Unpaid Carers: Support

Debate between Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate and Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

Thursday 13th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

This is a really important question, because the carer’s allowance has increased and is available as a non-means-tested support. I can reveal today that one of the key issues that is being looked at as part of the social care Green Paper is ensuring that financial support and employment status for carers are clearer, so that they can access all the support they are entitled to, but also to try to make things simpler.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

I declare an interest as a former Mental Health Act commissioner. While we are talking about carers, there is a considerable number of people who are caring for members of their family who have been suffering from mental illness and are now in the community. Would my noble friend not agree that we should be more concerned to give assistance there as well, rather than merely to those who care for people with physical ailments?

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

The burden of ill health, anxiety and depression is an important issue that has been clearly identified, and it can be caused by caring for a loved one. There is specific evidence about the threshold at which the number of hours spent caring causes such challenges. My noble friend is right that we should not only identify those who are caring but signpost them clearly to the support available for carers and make sure that they can access that care easily.

Children: Gaming

Debate between Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate and Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

Thursday 23rd May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

Does my noble friend not agree with me, though, that we should deal with this extremely carefully? I am aware of a number of cases in which children have become obsessed with gaming. In desperation, parents have been in touch with their representatives and medical advisers to try to deal with the effect of the psychosis that results from the obsession with gaming among quite a lot of young people. Can she therefore make sure that, however she looks at the positive effects in certain cases, she also fully recognises the dangers of an open approach to this?

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

I thank my noble friend for his question. Hundreds of millions of people globally play videogames, and for the majority it is a positive recreational activity. He is right, however, that there is some evidence of a moderate correlation between gaming and depression and anxiety symptoms in young adults, and evidence that exposure to violent gaming can have an impact on sleep and mood. However, that is dependent on the nature and duration of gaming. We also support the WHO’s classification, which identifies addiction within the classification of diseases. The CMO said in her evidence review, however, that there is insufficient evidence to support a specific evidence-based guideline on screen time. That is why we support more applications to the NIHR for research so that we can have a better understanding of the impact of gaming on young people. We would encourage anyone who is concerned to contact their GP.