Why do Carers in Scotland get two double payments through the year but in England we don’t get anything except a very outdated £10 Christmas bonus ?
Just like the 25p for over-80s, the £10 “Christmas bonus” has never been increased. It was first introduced in 1972 under Edward Heath, when a tenner would have bought the makings of a Christmas turkey dinner for a family of four and still had a bit left over for a few presents. Now it might just buy a 3kg Turkey crown from Iceland. As long as prices don’t keep going up. The £10 “bonus” goes to anyone in receipt of specific benefits, so it’s possible in some cases that more than one person in a family will receive it.
As to why? Well, it would be easy to argue that the Scottish Government takes the needs of carers a bit more seriously than the UK Government. And that may be true. But basically, due to Devolution, because the Scottish Government can, using their devolved powers. Wales can’t. And the UK Parliament hasn’t even debated anything like this, at least as far as I know.