Working together
Making a difference
Every autumn we report back to our members on what we’ve achieved
together during the last financial year, from April 2016 to March 2017.
Our annual report and accounts were presented at our AGM and are
available online to give you a full picture, but here’s a snapshot for you:
We help
19,864 enquiries
handled by Adviceline
94% of people
that read Caring
magazine said it
made them feel
part of a supportive
community
1,704,430
people accessed
help and
information
online
We campaign
2016 was an extraordinary year in the
courts for carers as we won hard fought
rights for carers. We worked with our
members and supporters to provide
support to three key issues: the benefit cap,
attendance allowance and the bedroom tax.
Protecting Older People’s ‘Attendance
Allowance’: We campaigned successfully to
stop Attendance Allowance becoming a post
code lottery and protected essential sources
of practical and financial support both for
older disabled people, and for carers.
Exempting carers from the benefit cap: 2016
started with government announcing it will
change the law to exempt all carers entitled
to Carer’s Allowance from the ‘benefit cap’.
The announcement is their response to
an amendment tabled by Carers UK Vice-
President, Baroness Pitkeathley and follows
a landmark ruling from the High Court
in November 2015 which found that the
Government was unlawfully discriminating
20
Thank you so much for all your help
and advice I am so grateful. It has
been a big decision to give up my job
to become a carer but it’s definitely the
right thing to do. Thank you for all the
useful contact information, you are an
amazing source of support.
331million
opportunities for
people in the UK
to see, hear or
read about caring
and Carers UK in
the media
against the claimants by
capping the benefits of their carers.
Exempting carers from the bedroom tax:
Carers UK members, Paul and Susan
Rutherford put forward – and won – their
legal challenge against the ‘bedroom tax’.
In November 2016 the Court of Appeal
accepted that the ‘bedroom tax’ unlawfully
discriminates against disabled children
requiring overnight care, as it does not allow
for an additional bedroom for their overnight
carer and a further case also allows a
second bedroom where it cannot be shared
for medical reasons. This is the culmination
of 7 years of campaigning to highlight how
the bedroom tax ignores the needs of carers.
carersuk.org