Policy Focus: Rights needed for young carers

The Care Bill is landmark legislation for carers - for the first time it carers will have the same rights to assessment and support as the people they care for. Local authorities will have to ensure that there is sufficient care and support so that carers can remain in work and education – we know how important this will be for the thousands of carers who have to give up work because of their caring responsibilities. Together with the greater focus on prevention and providing information and advice, Carers Trust believes that the Care Bill should make a huge difference to carers.

However, there are significant challenges ahead as Councils struggle with the deficit in social care funding and uncertainty remains about a long-term funding solution to care and support. This is why, despite the positive developments for carers, Carers Trust believes that the part of the Care Bill which will enable local authorities to charge carers for support needs to be looked at again. We believe that charging carers will be counterproductive as supporting them to continue to care helps to prevent care needs from escalating, ultimately resulting in costs to the state.

The Care Bill also needs to be amended for young carers and parent carers who will not have the same entitlements to adult carers. Carers Trust has been leading a national campaign as part of the National Young Carers Coalition to call for legal reform for young carers. We have made it clear that key to reform is amending both the Care Bill and the Children and Families Bill. In the Care Bill, provision for whole family assessment and adult eligibility for support should have regard to whether there is a child caring for adult and care and support needs should be met so that children are not relied upon to provide part of the care package which can have a negative impact on their wellbeing. Crucially, provision for whole family assessment and support in the Care Bill should be linked to separate provision for assessing and supporting children in the Children and Families Bill, so that where needed they receive support in their right.

Carers Trust’s campaign has won support from politicians in both Houses and across the parties and we welcomed the Government’s recent announcement to look at how the law might be changed. A year after new rights were announced for adult carers, we are finally moving in the right direction, but there is still work to be done as no actual changes to the Care Bill or Children and Families Bill have been made. We will continue to work with Parliamentarians to ensure that the law is changed in the right way for young carers. We believe that this is historic opportunity to strengthen young carers’ rights and make whole family support a reality – for too long carers of all ages have not been protected sufficiently in law and the Care Bill presents a historic opportunity to get this right.

Join the debate at the PoliticsHome Policy Focus on the Care Bill here