Carer Support Payment may only be paid in respect of an individual who is 16 years of age or older.

Where an individual was born on 29 February, the individual’s birthday is to be taken to fall on 28 February in a year which is not a leap year.

Carer Support Payment may only be paid to an individual in respect of a period during which that individual provides regular and substantial care to a person to whom a qualifying disability benefit is normally payable (a “cared for person”).

For the purposes of paragraph (1), an individual shall only be treated as being regularly and substantially engaged in caring for a cared for person on every day in a week if they are, or are likely to be, regularly engaged for at least 35 hours in an award week in caring for that cared for person.

No individual can be entitled to more than one Carer Support Payment in respect of the same period.

No individual can be entitled to Carer Support Payment in respect of a period during which they are in legal detention.

For the avoidance of doubt, an individual may be entitled to Carer Support Payment in respect of a cared for person where another individual is entitled to Young Carer Grant for that cared for person.

In this Part, “common travel area” has the meaning given in section 1(3) of the Immigration Act 197131.

The reference in paragraph (3)(b) to an individual’s link to Scotland being sufficient is to it being sufficiently close that if the individual were not entitled to Carer Support Payment, paragraph (3) would be incompatible with the Convention on Social Security between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland signed at Dublin on 1 February 2019.

The past presence condition set out in regulation 6(1)(e) does not apply to a relevant individual.

In this regulation—

• “child in care” means—

  1. a

     under the law of Scotland, a child in respect of whom a relevant individual listed in paragraph (3)(a)—

     1. i

        is a foster carer within the meaning of regulation 2 of the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 200947,

     2. ii

        is a kinship carer within the meaning of regulation 2 of the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009,

     3. iii

        has a kinship care order within the meaning of section 72 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 201448, or

  2. b

     under the law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, a child in respect of whom a person listed in paragraph (3)(a) has a relationship equivalent to those listed under the law of Scotland,

• “civil servant” has the meaning given by section 1(4) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 201049, and

• “serving member of His Majesty’s forces” means a member of a regular force or a reserve force (“M”) as defined, in each case, by section 374 (definitions applying for purposes of the whole Act) of the Armed Forces Act 200650, unless—

  1. a

     M is under the age of 16,

  2. b

     M is committing an offence under section 8 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (desertion),

  3. c

     the force concerned is one of His Majesty’s naval forces which M locally entered at an overseas base without—

     1. i

        previously being an insured person under the National Insurance Act 196551, or

     2. ii

        paying or having previously paid one or more of the following classes of contributions under the Social Security Act 197552 or the 1992 Act—

        1. aa

           primary Class 1,

        2. bb

           Class 2, or

        3. cc

           Class 3, or

  4. d

     the force concerned is one of His Majesty’s military forces or His Majesty’s air forces which M entered, or was recruited for, outside the United Kingdom and—

     1. i

        where that force is one of His Majesty’s military forces, the depot for M’s unit is outside the United Kingdom, or

     2. ii

        where that force is one of His Majesty’s air forces, M is liable under the terms of M’s engagement to serve only in a specified area outside the United Kingdom.

In this regulation—

• “aircraft worker” means a person who is, or has been, employed under a contract of service either as a pilot, commander, navigator or other member of the crew of any aircraft, or in any other capacity on board any aircraft where—

  1. a

     the employment in that other capacity is for the purposes of the aircraft or its crew or of any passengers or cargo or mail carried on that aircraft, and

  2. b

     the contract is entered into in the United Kingdom with a view to its performance (in whole or in part) while the aircraft is in flight,

  but does not include a person so far as that employment is as a serving member His Majesty’s forces, and

• “mariner” means a person who is, or has been, in employment under a contract of service either as a master or member of the crew of any ship or vessel, or in any other capacity on board any ship or vessel where—

  1. a

     the employment in that other capacity is for the purposes of that ship or vessel or its crew or any passenger or cargo or mail carried by the ship or vessel, and

  2. b

     the contract is entered into in the United Kingdom with a view to its performance (in whole or in part) while the ship or vessel is on voyage,

  but does not include a person in so far as that employment is as a serving member of His Majesty’s forces.

An individual to whom a relevant EU regulation applies is not entitled to Carer Support Payment for a period unless during that period the United Kingdom is competent for payment of sickness benefits in cash to the person for the purposes of the relevant EU regulation in question.

The residence and presence conditions set out in regulation 6(1) (residence and presence conditions) do not apply in relation to Carer Support Payment where on any day the individual satisfies the conditions in paragraph (2).

The reference in paragraph (2)(c) to an individual’s link to Scotland being sufficient is to it being sufficiently close that if the individual were not entitled to Carer Support Payment, paragraph (2) would be incompatible with the applicable agreement mentioned in sub-paragraph (a)(i) of that paragraph.

An individual to whom a relevant EU regulation applies is not entitled to Carer Support Payment for a period unless during that period the United Kingdom is competent for payment of sickness benefits in cash to the person for the purposes of the relevant EU regulation in question.

An individual may be entitled to Carer Support Payment in respect of a cared for person where they have previously been entitled to Young Carer Grant.

For the purposes of this regulation—

• “advanced education” means full-time education (which is not school education within the meaning of the Education (Scotland) Act 198059) for the purposes of—

  1. a

     a course in preparation for a degree, a diploma of higher education, a higher national certificate, a higher national diploma, or a teaching qualification, or

  2. b

     any other course which is of a standard above ordinary national diploma, a national diploma or national certificate of Edexcel, a general certificate of education (advanced level), or Scottish national qualifications at higher or advanced higher level,

• “approved training” means arrangements made by the Government—

  1. a

     in relation to Wales, known as “Traineeships” or “Foundation Apprenticeships”,

  2. b

     in relation to Scotland, known as “No One Left Behind”, or

  3. c

     in relation to Northern Ireland, known as “PEACE IV Children and Young People 2.1”, “Training for Success”, or “Skills for Life and Work”,

• “arrangements made by the Government” means arrangements—

  1. a

     in relation to England and Wales, made by the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 197360,

  2. b

     in relation to Scotland, made—

     1. i

        by the Scottish Ministers under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973,

     2. ii

        by Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise under section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 199061, or

  3. c

     in relation to Northern Ireland, made by the Department for Communities or the Department for the Economy under sections 1 and 3 of the Employment and Training Act (Northern Ireland) 195062,

• “foster parent” means—

  1. a

     under the law of Scotland, a foster carer or kinship carer with whom a child is placed under the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 200963, or

  2. b

     under the law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, a person with whom a child is placed who has an equivalent relationship with the child to those listed under the law of Scotland,

• “full-time education”—

  1. a

     is education undertaken in pursuit of a course, where the average time spent during term time in receiving tuition, engaging in practical work, or supervised study, or taking examinations exceeds 21 hours per week, and

  2. b

     in calculating the time spent in pursuit of the course, no account is taken of time occupied by meal breaks or spent on unsupervised study, and

• “qualifying young person” has the same meaning as regulation 5 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013.

An individual is not entitled to Carer Support Payment in any award week in which their earnings in respect of that award week exceed £139.

Earnings are to be calculated in accordance with schedule 2.