My goodness - Thanks for all the information Uncle - very kind of you to put this together for me.

Hi Uncle - Thanks again When we claimed I remember stating we were looking after a disabled child but looking at the statement I'm pretty sure we don't receive Disabled Child Element (I've told JC we have started to recieve DLA) Will research this as I have not heard of it before - is it an attempt to 'streamline' things and replace the DLA payment - could you explain why you advocate making this change so I can understand better? They have been awarded the highest rate of care on the DLA - partner 'recieves' child benefit although I think due to benefit cap they don't actually get this... Agree, all seems a bit of minefield to me! will visit CA - there is also a local disabled charity who has a welfare officer so will try and get an appointment with them.

Hi Uncle - Thanks for your comments My partner is full-time at home (no income) which I think makes them eligible for Carer's Allowance (I read you can't earn more than £138 per week) - because they are also the primary carer for our youngest (2 years old) they have only occasional visits to the Job Centre. If she becomes a full-time Carer for our eldest then should I consider becoming primary carer for our youngest? I mentioned the 20 hrs currently worked when applying for UC, so don't know how many hours they are basing their calculations on - will take your advice and ask for confirmation of this. I have not had the gateway interview yet to establish 'gainful employment' - they said this would likely be August time but they've moved goal posts in the past so we will see. The whole claim just doesn't seem set-up right at the moment - I don't think the system has recognised our eldest and as far as it is concerned they would be in education by now even though we homeschool. The interviews focus on growing the business/increasing fee levels and generating leads etc but I get lots of enquiries and am fully booked-up - I keep telling them the only obstacle to this is my time.

My situation is I ran a successful business for many years, we had our second child (now 2) and time became very limited as our first child (now 6) is disabled and needs a lot of care so ended-up working part-time around 20 hrs per week. We needed to rent a house and my earnings from SE were generally about £1,000 a month but we found-out we may be entitled to UC so started to receive this around a year ago (during Covid restrictions). More recently the Job Centre has started to try and pressure me into earning more money - I'm called in to visit them most weeks now. Understand why they are doing this and don't want to sound ungrateful, but with time as limited as it is, this is not helping me - in fact I feel I could be relapsing into depression. They have been very vague when I've asked what my minimum income floor is or what I should be earning and no one at the Job Centre has been able to give me a definitive answer - could any of you 'shine a light' on this for me? At the last meeting they suggested I should consider working for a company but can't see how this would fit with domestic life - I also plan on growing the business again in the future when I have more time - should I really throw away something that I've worked on for 15 years just like that? It might be that I was 'late to the party' sorting everything out - working on an EHCP for our eldest and we have just received DLA for them which means my partner can classed as a Carer - would it be best for me to be primary carer for our youngest now? What are your thoughts - any advice appreciated.