Carers over 80: Support

Baroness Bakewell Excerpts

Monday 13th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. There are many tens of thousands of children who have very substantial caring responsibilities for their parents or grandparents. The impact on their education and future careers is certainly something that the strategy will want to take into account. Of course, the Children and Families Act sets out the rights of children. We need to assess them very carefully in the forthcoming strategy.

[Baroness Bakewell (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister tell us how much the group of people who are carers over 80 is saving the economy by offering their services?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I cannot give a specific figure for those over 80 but I think that, in so far as you can monetise something like this, the total amount for all unpaid carers is estimated to be around £1.3 billion a year.