Just thinking about this...if the govt really want to give carers the opportunity of improving their financial situation by combining care and work then carers would have to work full time to be any better off because the government have done nothing about raising the earnings limit on CA and i presume that would be no different if carers are moved to JSA.
I wonder how much it would cost to give every carer who wants to return to full time work respite. Just calculated it for me it would be at least £22,880 a year...that's on 40 hours respite (to include travelling and lunch times) and that's using a direct payments price of £11 an hour and my husband's care at the moment (we get 10 hours a week) costs the LA £16 and £12.50 an hour.
And I would still be caring all the time i wasn't at work.
I can just see the LA giving me that! Direct payments here are capped at £200 a week anyway i believe...which would leave me 22 hours short...and i've heard they're cutting down on ILF funding because of high demand.
So where does that leave equality of opportunity for carers....!!!!
If the govt are going to go down this avenue where is their guarantee that every carer who wants to return to work full time will be given the appropriate respite needed.