Government slashes support for full-time carers of older and disabled loved ones

Carers UK welcomes Government amendment to improve parent carers' rights

Responding to last night’s debate on strengthening the rights of parent carers, the Children’s Minister, Lord Nash, agreed to introduce an amendment at the final stage of the children and Families Bill

NEW care laws which ignore the rights of parents with seriously ill or disabled children must be revised, Carers UK says. Government has an unprecedented opportunity to redress this, but time is running out

Carers UK announces first adopters of newly launched app Jointly – the app for families caring for loved ones

Carers UK today makes a pioneering move into the app market with the launch of Jointly – a tool to help families manage care for loved ones alongside increasingly complex lives

The Government has published Guidance on the Better Care Fund. The Fund was announced in June as part of the 2013 Spending Round. The funding is designed to help local authorities work more closely with their local health authority to develop integrated services and to prepare for their new duties under the Care Bill.

For carers, the Fund includes:

• £130 million for carers breaks in 2015-16, an increase on the £100 million a year which has been available since 2011.
• Funding to implement new duties on local councils to support carers through social care services.

Responding to the publication of Guidance on the ‘Better Care Fund’, Director of Policy at Carers UK, Emily Holzhausen said:

“Carers UK is pleased to see the confirmation of increased funding for respite breaks for carers and money identified to support the delivery of the welcome new rights for carers in the Care Bill.

However this funding is not ring-fenced so it is vital that local authorities, who are under considerable financial pressure, protect this funding and ensure that it reaches families who are struggling to provide care for loved ones. Although announcements on funding for carers’ breaks are welcome, carers are disappointed to find that this doesn’t reach them on the ground – or, worse still, that the support they receive is actually being cut.

There is a very real risk that money added to budgets to support carers will drain away elsewhere as severe cuts to local council’s allocations from Government continue to result in reduced spending on social care. Alongside specific funding for carers, Government must deliver the wider social care funding needed to meet growing demand and recover from decades of underfunding. “

Carers UK is also calling for the Care Bill to be amended to include a duty on NHS bodies to identify carers. We believe this duty would support the NHS and local government in working together to improve the lives of carers, and ensure the Better Care Fund brings the greatest benefit for carers.

The Fund, originally referred to as the Integration Transformation Fund, provides for £3.8 billion worth of funding in 2015/16 to be spent locally on health and care to improve integration. In 2014/15, in addition to the £900m transfer already planned from the NHS to adult social care, a further £200m will transfer to enable local areas to prepare for the Better Care Fund in 2015/16.

Carers UK will be doing further analysis of the Fund and accompanying Guidance.

MPs of all parties debating the Care Bill for the first time last night recognised and welcomed the strengthening of rights for adult carers caring for adults in the Bill. They also welcomed joint working between Health and Education Ministers which means young carers will also benefit from these stronger rights to assessment and support through the Children and Families Bill.

Poll shows 9 in 10 of the public support new rights to time off work for caring for loved ones

Carers UK has responded to the Government's Autumn Statement in which the Chancellor announced improved forecasts for economic growth and employment rates, but argued that, despite an improving economic outlook, the Government had to stick to plans to cut public spending.

Carers UK has come together with 18 charities, who work on disability and carers’ benefits, to write to the Prime Minister to set the record straight after his comments last week in Parliament about the Housing Benefit ‘bedroom tax’ changes.

Record numbers of carers are missing out on vital financial support due to a lack of advice, Carers UK reveals today.

Carers UK has announced Caroline Waters OBE, Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and former Director of People and Policy at BT, as its new Vice President.

House of Lords debates amendment to give parent carers equal rights to carers of disabled adults and older people

New figures on the quality of life of carers show carers feeling they don’t have control over their lives, don’t have time to do things they value and are neglecting their own health and wellbeing as a result of the care they provide.

Action must be taken to prevent rising numbers of staff quitting work because they are struggling to manage jobs alongside care for a loved one with dementia.

New research published in the Mirror today suggests that over 2000 carers have been sent court summonses for unpaid Council Tax since the changes to Council Tax Benefit introduced in April.

Carers UK warmly welcomes this morning’s announcement from the Education Secretary, Michael Gove MP, that the Government will amend legislation currently in Parliament to strengthen the rights of young carers and their families to receive support.

Carers UK calls on Government to take urgent action on contradictory benefits rules

Carers UK calls for action as poll shows lack of public awareness of care