Ms Zoe Hughes:

The Deputy mentioned more disregards around tax, mortgage and extra payments. The important thing to remember is that there are many examples - the Deputy would probably know better than I do - in the group of people who talk about how it is upsetting that there does not seem to be any recognition of the significant additional costs families in these situations who are in receipt of carer's allowance face, not only because they are not working, but because they face additional costs. I am not an expert in financial policy. That is not my area. I am in social policy. However, if there were some way to account for that in the disregarding process that would be very helpful. That has to be balanced, however, with potentially becoming a more invasive application procedure. If people have to go through exactly how much everything costs, that puts additional costs on everyone's time. We need to find a balance between acknowledging that people need money to live and be supported and that families in receipt of carer's allowance have additional costs that other families simply do not have.