The government acted unlawfully when failed to exempt unpaid carers for disabled family members from the benefits cap, the High Court has held.
In Hurley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] EWHC 3382 (Admin), the court found that the secretary of state unjustifiably indirectly discriminated against unpaid carers, breaching their Art 14 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights by not considering the impact on disabled people.
To qualify for carer’s allowance, carers must provide upwards of 35 hours a week care to a severely disabled person who receives disability living allowance. The cared for person was given an exemption from the cap but the carer wasn’t. One of the claimants in the case became homeless as a result.
Rebekah Carrier, solicitor at Hopkin Murray Beskine, who acted for the claimants, says: “If [the claimants] are forced into stopping their important work as carers, the state will have to pick up the tab and arrange alternative care.”
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