Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60209 on Carers, on how many occasions there has been a cross-Government meeting since July 2024.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Unpaid carers play a vital role and can access support from adult and children’s social care and the National Health Service, as well as through benefits, employers, schools, colleges, and universities. However, we know that too often systems are disjointed, difficult to navigate, and don’t appropriately identify and communicate with carers.

The Government is determined to work together to provide carers of all ages with the recognition and support they deserve.

Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education have convened twice this year to discuss support for unpaid carers and consider opportunities to provide further recognition and support. These are early meetings of a group exploring further ways in which carers can be supported, and as such it does not have a statutory remit.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60209 on Carers, what the outcomes were of the cross-Government meeting.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Unpaid carers play a vital role and can access support from adult and children’s social care and the National Health Service, as well as through benefits, employers, schools, colleges, and universities. However, we know that too often systems are disjointed, difficult to navigate, and don’t appropriately identify and communicate with carers.

The Government is determined to work together to provide carers of all ages with the recognition and support they deserve.

Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education have convened twice this year to discuss support for unpaid carers and consider opportunities to provide further recognition and support. These are early meetings of a group exploring further ways in which carers can be supported, and as such it does not have a statutory remit.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60209 on Carers, who attends the cross-Government meetings.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Unpaid carers play a vital role and can access support from adult and children’s social care and the National Health Service, as well as through benefits, employers, schools, colleges, and universities. However, we know that too often systems are disjointed, difficult to navigate, and don’t appropriately identify and communicate with carers.

The Government is determined to work together to provide carers of all ages with the recognition and support they deserve.

Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education have convened twice this year to discuss support for unpaid carers and consider opportunities to provide further recognition and support. These are early meetings of a group exploring further ways in which carers can be supported, and as such it does not have a statutory remit.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60209 on Carers, whether the cross-Government meeting has a statutory remit.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Unpaid carers play a vital role and can access support from adult and children’s social care and the National Health Service, as well as through benefits, employers, schools, colleges, and universities. However, we know that too often systems are disjointed, difficult to navigate, and don’t appropriately identify and communicate with carers.

The Government is determined to work together to provide carers of all ages with the recognition and support they deserve.

Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education have convened twice this year to discuss support for unpaid carers and consider opportunities to provide further recognition and support. These are early meetings of a group exploring further ways in which carers can be supported, and as such it does not have a statutory remit.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of his policies on the ability of farmers to diversify their income streams to support their farming business.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Agricultural permitted development rights were amended in April 2024 to expand the range of uses agricultural buildings and land within their curtilage can be used for under a ‘flexible commercial use’, incentivising development by providing certainty and removing the time and money needed to submit a planning application. As the Secretary of State announced earlier this year, we will ensure these permitted development rights work for farms to support all farmers to innovate and diversify their businesses. In June, we held three roundtables with agriculture stakeholders to discuss planning issues in depth. Government is consulting on national policies for decision making later this year to make the planning policy framework clearer and more accessible.