National Carers Strategy explained

The vision

The Strategy sets out a ten year vision that, the report says, must be a shared responsibility between central and local government, the NHS, third sector, families and communities.

The principles behind the vision are that by 2018:

• carers will be treated with dignity and respect as expert care partners
• carers will have access to the services they need to support them in their caring role
• carers will be able to have a life of their own
• carers will not be forced into financial hardship by their caring role
• carers will be supported to stay mentally and physically well
• children and young people will be protected from inappropriate caring roles.

Carers UK believes this vision reflects what carers said they want to see. We feel that Government has finally got the message that caring is a critical issue and they have taken on the challenge caring poses to society. Delivering this vision would be genuine equality and recognition for carers, and it echoes our own call for a new 'social contract' which makes it clear what the state, employers, and others will provide and what individuals have to contribute.

The Strategy seems to support this view: "The long-term challenge is to create a new settlement between individuals, family and the government...There needs to be an open and honest debate about the appropriate balance of responsibility between the family, the individual and the government if England is to have a sustainable care and support system."

However the Strategy does not make clear what the precise steps are that would lead to this being achieved. We will be pressing government for more detail.

The Strategy also includes a set of commitments as follows:

Health and Social Care

• an increase of £150 million in the amount of money available for breaks over two years
• more support from NHS.

Carers needs back up from services that help them care and give them a break. Carers UK welcomes the Government's pledge to make £150 million available for carers to take breaks. Getting a break is crucial for enabling carers to look after their own health and wellbeing and remain in employment. The extra breaks money will be allocated to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) who will be required to work with local authorities to publish joint plans for the provision of breaks. Carers UK will be watching this development closely to ensure that it doesn't create additional bureaucracy, but in principle this policy could mean that carers can access breaks more easily.

New ideas for social services

• Training for professionals in local authorities for their day-to-day dealings with carers improving how agencies share relevant information and encourage close working between councils, the NHS, other statutory agencies and the voluntary sector. This will mean that carers do not have to repeat details so many times.
• Develop relationships between local authorities and third sector and carer-led organisations to make greater use of their expertise and provide carers with greater choice and control over services. This includes examining how best to use the Carers Grant to benefit carers.
• Work with local authorities to spread good practice around discount cards for leisure and transport.

New ideas on health

• Pilot annual health checks for carers in a sample of PCTs. Carers UK has been calling for health checks for carers for a number of years and some PCTs are already doing this.
• Pilot training programmes for GPs to help them better understand carers' needs. If successful, it may be rolled out nationally.
• Government is considering prioritising funding for projects offering emotional support to carers.
• Pilots looking at how the NHS can better support carers. Currently health professionals often ignore carers and do not respect their knowledge or opinions. These pilots should help spread good practice.

Employment

• Improve support offered to carers by JobCentre Plus.
• Awareness-raising about the right to request flexible working.
• Review who qualifies for flexible working request law.

Carers UK's Make Work Work campaign fought hard for carers to have the right to request flexible working. Yet many carers and employers are not aware of these new rights. So we are pleased that the Government will fund an awareness campaign to tell carers and employers about the right to request flexible working.

The Strategy also promises to review who is entitled to flexible working rights. Currently a fifth of carers miss out, including those who are not a close relation of the person they care for or do not live with them. We believe extending the right would be simpler for carers and employers, as well as benefiting those who are currently excluded.

Carers have told us that they need more support to get into work, including accessing training and replacement care. The Strategy commits £38 million of additional funding for things like a Care Partnership Manager in every JobCentre Plus district to ensure that carers offered appropriate support, improvements in training for JobCentre Plus advisers and funding replacement care for carers participating in approved training.

Information for carers

• Funding over the next two years to provide easy-to-access (eg in different languages), information about services in each carer's local area and ensuring it links to a future national carers' helpline.

The Strategy recognises that carers often find it difficult to find out what their rights are and what services are available locally. This can mean that it takes longer to get the right support.

Young carers

• £6m package aimed at supporting young carers.

The Strategy recognises that support for young carers needs to be centred on the family and the person they care for, but it must also make sure that young carers do not miss out on their education and other opportunities.

Information about carers

• Better collection of data about carers' lives.
• Commitment to continue having carer question in the Census.

Accurate data about carers is essential. As a result of the 2001 Census, we know more about carers than ever before, but there are still gaps in our knowledge. Carers UK's Keep Counting Carers campaign won the commitment to keep the carer question in the Census and this is confirmed in the Strategy. In addition, the Government will collect more detailed data on employment, income and housing.

Equalities

• Failure to commit to equalities legislation.

Carers are discriminated against in employment and other aspects of daily life. We are therefore very disappointed that the Strategy includes no plans to include carers in the forthcoming Single Equality Bill. This is an issue which Carers UK will continue to campaign on.