For far too long, the needs of hundreds of thousands of young carers who do incredible things to look after and support members of their family have been overlooked. They pay a big price with their school work, their social lives, and very often their own health.
The role of carers at any age is still not valued or recognised anywhere near enough. But when it comes to young carers they have lost out most. Now thanks to the hard work of the National Young Carers Coalition, and others, yesterday’s announcement of stronger and clearer rights for young carers and new duties on local authorities to assess need are a very important step forward.
These are the changes the scrutiny committee on the Care Bill which I chaired called for earlier this year, and which, with cross-party support, we lobbied for in the House before the summer. We argued that young carers must be afforded the same rights as adult carers will now be getting in the Care Bill – and the Ministers Edward Timpson and Norman Lamb agreed. Getting progress on this issue, along with a commitment to joining up with the Care Bill to ensure a whole-family approach to care is fantastic news for those of us who have spent so long campaigning on the need for a holistic approach. Together, this package of reforms should make a real difference to reduce the burden under which too many young people come close to collapse, and is a welcome recognition that young carers’ wellbeing matter too.
- Rt Hon Paul Burstow, former Care Minister, former chair of the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny of the draft Care and Support Bill, Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam
Today's Written Ministerial Statement and proposed Government amendments to the Children and Young Families Bill mark an important milestone in the road towards a proper recognition of the huge role played by young carers in our society. Young carers are children and young people who look after someone in their family who has an illness, a disability, who is affected by mental ill-health or who has been involved in substance misuse. Young carers often take on practical and emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. This can involve personal or physical care for a family member - such as cooking, administering medication or being in charge of the household budget - or things like taking younger brothers and sisters to school every day.
The most recent census data reveals that there are 166,000 young carers in England. This is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg and there are many more who are not getting the help they need. The recent '
hidden from view' report from The Children’s Society, found that young carers achieve on average nine grades lower than their peers at GCSE and that one in 20 miss school because of their caring responsibilities. Young carers are more likely than the national average to be not in education, employment or training (NEET) between the ages of 16 and 19.
As a result of the Government's amendments, when a child is identified as a young carer, the needs of everyone in the family will be considered. This will trigger both children’s and adults support services into action. This means that services will assess why a child is caring, what needs to change and what would help the family to prevent children from taking on this responsibility in the first place.
After having tabled amendments with the support of MPs from other parties to the Bill, I am delighted to see that Michael Gove and Edward Timpson have accepted our arguments. This is a good day for young carers.
- Robert Buckland, Conservative MP for South Swindon
For years, I have campaigned for young carers to be identified and supported. For too long, young carers have fallen through the gaps. They are not identified by their teachers, by GPs or social care professionals. This means that too often they are left to cope with significant caring responsibilities without any support. That is why it was disappointing to find that young carers had been forgotten in the Children and Families Bill and not given the same rights as adult carers in the Care Bill.
It was wrong to leave children and young people providing care as a result of the failure of services to see and support them. I am pleased to see the Government has listened to our calls for changes to the law for young carers. This is such a significant moment after years of campaigning.
We need to make sure that all professionals in schools and colleges and health and social care help to support young carers. We also need to make sure that young people are not having to care at levels that are inappropriate and which impact on their education and social life.
- Barbara Keeley, Labour MP for Worsley and Eccles South