Carers Action Plan

Debate between Baroness Finlay of Llandaff and Baroness Hyde of Bemerton

Thursday 22nd October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his work in this area, and I appreciate his raising this very important point. The carers action plan has a whole section on children and young carers, and the action plan overall is split into three sections, the first of which is: recognise. To the noble Lord’s point, we understand how easy it is for children and young people, in particular, to go under the radar. A cross-ministerial group will be working on this, including Minister Waugh, who is responsible for early education years, and Minister McGovern, as well as colleagues from DWP and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

Recognition of carers, whichever part of the life phase they are in, is profoundly important, and we recognise that young carers make a particular contribution. As the noble Lord said, the consideration of children, particularly those aged five to nine—which is incredibly young—raises a different range of concerns, which we wish to respond to. We recognise that children and young people should not be expected to undertake excessive or inappropriate caring responsibilities, which can really affect their educational prospects, as the noble Lord said. It is important that the whole family can access the right support at the right time.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, almost 90,000 of these young carers have been identified, but over half of schools have not reported any young carers, which is particularly worrying. What powers will the champion have to make sure that local authorities are providing support and putting identification processes in place for these young people, and that that support is not only during their period of caring but extends into a period of bereavement, when they are looking after seriously ill parents or siblings?

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)]

This Government are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity for all young people, including young carers, and every young carer is entitled to an assessment to ensure they receive the support they need. Local authorities have that duty of care, and we fully support the “No Wrong Doors for Young Carers” memorandum of understanding, which promotes stronger joint working between adult and children’s care services.

The role of the champion and exactly how that will dovetail with existing work and departments is still being worked out. The appointment will be announced in due course, and at that time we will also announce how that will integrate with ongoing work. I also draw the noble Baroness’s attention to the cross-departmental small ministerial working group, which will be looking at this issue. The inclusion of Minister Waugh, as the early education Minister, is crucial to ensuring that all schools in every local authority are doing all they can to support young carers and children bereaved at an early age.