Carer’s Allowance

Josh Dean Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)]

I thank hon. Members for their constructive contributions to this debate, on a topic that I know is important to all our constituents. The enormous contributions made to our communities by unpaid or family carers have rightly been recognised across the House. We know that our country would grind to a halt without them, but many today are pushed to breaking point caring for those they love, and that cannot be right. The treatment of unpaid carers, unknowingly overpaid their carer’s allowance under the previous Administration, was unacceptable. Having spoken to unpaid carers in Hertford and Stortford, I know that those failures have caused many of them stress, and shockingly even left some in fear of claiming the carer’s allowance to which they are rightly entitled.

I know that local benefits advice has been invaluable to those residents, and I pay tribute to the work of Citizens Advice East Herts and other groups that offer a lifeline to those in need of support. I welcome today’s announcement from the Minister that the Government will launch a review into carer’s allowance overpayments. I am pleased that the review will look at not only what went wrong previously but, importantly, how we can prevent such problems in the future. I know that it will be welcomed by carers and unpaid family carers in my community. I am proud that the Government recognise the challenges faced by unpaid carers, and it is essential that we consider how we can provide them with the support that they deserve. I am heartened by our commitment to introduce flexible working as a right, to provide time away from work for caring responsibilities, and to join up services so that my constituents do not have to battle to get the care for their loved ones that they need.

It is also important that we turn to the task of delivering much-needed reform in adult social care. The Government’s commitment to reform of the sector, with an ambition to build a world-class national care service, is something that I am sure we all support. It is right that the project will be undertaken in collaboration with care users and their families, sector partners and care organisations, to ensure that their lived experiences are at the heart of the social care system that we build. I look forward to working with those groups in my constituency to ensure that their voices are heard.

We will all have received correspondence from constituents sharing their personal experiences of the social care system. Many of us will have relatives or friends who have struggled to access care themselves, and others will have caring responsibilities too. Now is our opportunity to fix unpaid care, and the social care system more widely, and deliver lasting change for the future. I warmly welcome today’s announcement and the Government’s programme for reform.