Carers

Michelle Donelan Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mims Davies]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. I absolutely agree. Pointing out that there are difficulties at home can be a frightening experience, and young carers may wonder what it will mean for them. It may feel better to say nothing, but that is a frightening place in which to be.

Young carers often miss school days. When they become young adults, they are more likely to drop out of college or be unable to head to university. That is not good enough after all they have put into their families and given the impact on their lives. They need support when helping their loved ones. They display real human decency at such a young age and suffer as a result. We should be nurturing, supporting and applauding our young carers.

The vast majority of carers are of working age. Many of them want to work, and 3 million people juggle full or part-time work with their caring duties. At the House of Commons carers event this week, I spoke to carers who are juggling their desire to do it all and who are not dropping the ball even though their health is often suffering. They are sometimes aware that they are able to care for their loved ones only for a limited time: they need to stay in the workplace for financial reasons. It is often not a choice; it is forced.

It is bad for companies if they lose our carers because the carers feel they have no choice but to walk out the door, which is what I did. If I was not in this place, I would now be without any caring responsibilities—apart from the two small children who do not seem to have been adopted yet, so I have to remember to look after them! I would be looking for a job and would have been out of the workplace for some time.

[Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)]

I commend my hon. Friend for securing this debate today. Does she agree that carers contribute a great wealth of experience and other skill sets to employers that non-carers perhaps cannot?

[Mims Davies]

Absolutely. Carers have a can-do attitude that they bring to the workplace. If I was rewriting my CV, I would hope to put that on there.

It is bad for carers to fall out of the workplace. When asked about their experiences, the results were astonishing. Over a third of carers felt that their employer simply did not understand their caring role, and a third said that their employer did not have policies in place to support them. Flexible working is a key support mechanism to help carers to do their valuable work. Some progress has been made in supporting flexible or agile working. A limited right to request flexible working was introduced in 2002, and I am pleased that the Children and Families Act 2014 extended that to all employees after 26 weeks. However, given the pressures that carers face, that is not long term enough. The Government need to look to do more. The new legal right also paves the way for a possible culture shift in flexible working, and I want employers to take up the mantle.

It is deeply worrying that there seems to be a strong gender bias, with caring falling mainly on women in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Let us make it acceptable for all to take the time to care. One in four women aged 50 to 64 has caring responsibilities for older or disabled loved ones compared with one in six men, but I have met men in my constituency who have given up their jobs to care. I would like to see that as a real possibility. If someone wants to be there and can be there, it does not matter who they are.

This debate is an excellent opportunity to pay tribute here in the House to the crucial work of carers. Some 20% of carers currently receive no support with their caring work, because they simply have not put their head above the parapet. They do not realise that they are carers, and I know how that feels. Half of carers expect their quality of life to get worse in the next year, which people made clear at the carers event in the House earlier this week. People are concerned that they are not looking after themselves and simply do not know how to facilitate that. The national carers strategy is currently being written, and I am delighted that the Minister has written to me as part of the process and that I am involved. He is allowing time to focus on the matter to ensure that we get it right. I hope that the debate will give hon. Members the chance to set out clearly to the Government and to the country that we are not doing enough for our carers and that they are struggling.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)]

Many people think of carers as a small but dedicated group, yet as we have heard today, as many as three in five people will be carers at some point in their life. There are an estimated 50,000 carers in Wiltshire alone—roughly 10% of our county’s population—and 3,000 of those are under the age of 24. Mr Deputy Speaker, you or I could be a carer one day, but chances are that we would not realise our role. We would just think that we were caring for our loved ones. Some 70% of carers in Wiltshire continue to remain hidden, and it is believed that many of those people do not understand or recognise their caring status.

That is why this week and this debate are so important, and I applaud my hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Mims Davies) for securing the debate. I also thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting it. We need to work together to raise the profile of these silent heroes, these astonishing individuals who give and give, time and again. Carers enable hundreds of my constituents to continue to live in their own home. Let us face it: without carers, our NHS would not cope, our care homes would be flooded, and the independence of thousands would be compromised. The care provided, unpaid, by the nation’s carers is worth an estimated £119 billion a year, but their role in our community and economy is invaluable.

I was delighted that the Government made an additional £400 million available to the NHS between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with the breaks that they need from their caring responsibilities, and that we are developing a new national carers strategy to look at what more can be done for existing and future carers. That highlights an understanding and, importantly, appreciation of the role. Fundamentally, it shows the importance of caring for carers.

The charity sector plays a crucial role in enabling carers. An excellent example is the Independent Living Centre in Semington in my constituency, a charity that offers first-class impartial advice, and solutions for easier living. A support network is equally essential for carers. It can be an isolating role, and one about which non-carers often know little and have little understanding. In a study of more than 6,000 carers, half had let a health problem go untreated, or seen their mental health get worse, as a direct result of the time and effort that they had put into caring for their loved ones.

Fun4All is an impressive local charity in Chippenham. One of its aims is to improve the health and wellbeing of carers by providing social events and breaks, and crucially, it forges a network between carers. I attended one of its fish-and-chip lunches with entertainment, and I can assure the House that it is certainly fun for all.

Also based in my constituency is Carer Support Wiltshire, with whom I have volunteered. I saw at first hand its extremely high level of work and dedication, and its enormous impact on the lives of so many local people. Its role as a charity locally cannot be overstated. It helps carers to access support, services, education and training, as well as breaks from their caring role. This Sunday, it is organising an awareness and fundraising event called “Walk a mile in my shoes” in Chippenham. Last year it proved very successful. I look forward to participating once again, and wish it success.

A key hurdle for carers, as we have heard, is juggling their caring role with employment. Last year we made a massive leap forward when we extended to carers the right to request flexible working arrangements to help them balance work and care; but many problems remain, and it is still a huge challenge to balance the two. It is often about having the ability to cope, but also a level of understanding from the employer.

Carer Support Wiltshire has devised a scheme intended to raise awareness and understanding among employers. It has a strategic arm dedicated to that. I have worked with it on this, and although the strategy is in its early stages, it is a blueprint that could be replicated throughout the country. Employers need to understand the benefits that carers offer and not see them only as a strain on their business. It is important to stress that the issue of supporting carers needs to be targeted nationally and locally, and within the voluntary sector.

Nationally, the Care Act 2014 gave carers fundamental legal rights, and I hope that the national strategy will directly challenge the problems that carers face. Specifically, I hope that we will look at supporting more training opportunities locally to ensure that those in a caring capacity always have the confidence, abilities and skills to perform their role.

Wiltshire Council is finalising its local strategy on carers, which will bring many organisations together to support carers. A variety of services are already in action in my constituency, such as complementary therapies, outings, trips, counselling, befriending services, talk and support services, carers’ cafés—the list is endless, but still much more work is needed.

Fundamentally, there is a complete and utter lack of understanding of the role of carers and the support available. I have seen that time and again in my constituency surgeries. Very many constituents have come to me, complaining that they are struggling, stressed, worried. They do not know what benefits they are entitled to. If I had £1 for every time someone has come to me who is entitled to the carer’s allowance but does not realise it, I would have sent out a lot more leaflets by now. We need to address this head-on. We need to go even further, and I am confident that the national strategy will encompass strenuous efforts to address the awareness and entitlement issues.

Many of the constituents who come to me are pensioners, and they do not realise that if their state pension falls below the amount of the carer’s allowance, they are in effect entitled to a top-up. Alternatively, if they are not in that bracket, they have what is defined as an “underlying entitlement to carer’s allowance”, which means that when they are means-tested, that is reviewed. I mention these entitlements today because I am convinced that it is important to stress them, and to get the message out to any elderly carers who are watching.

[Mims Davies]

My hon. Friend hit the nail on the head when she talked about the importance of better communication—of communicating to carers who feel isolated and vulnerable about the support that is available and the opportunities to make things better. As a result of today’s debate and through the Minister, we could look at communicating better with that group of people.

[Michelle Donelan]

I thank my hon. Friend. I could not agree more with her comments today. Another thing that concerns me deeply is that it is very easy to stereotype a carer, yet the reality is very different from the stereotype. The 2011 census identified 166,363 young carers under the age of 18 caring for a family member or friend; more than 110,073 were under 16. The real figure, allowing for hidden carers, is very much greater. Yes, the Children and Families Act 2014 extended the right to an assessment of support needs to all young carers under the age of 18; and since 2010 the Government have created specific training guides for teachers and teaching staff, to enable them to identify and support young carers.

However, there is still a big problem, which we need to face up to. Around one in 20 young carers regularly miss school because of their caring role. Young carers often get lower grades; a recent survey showed their most common grade at GCSE to be D. Young carers are twice as likely as their peers not to be in education, employment or training. They are therefore more entitled than other groups to the support that we can offer. That is why it would be completely wrong for me not to stress that I completely and utterly support the campaign to allow the pupil premium to show its understanding of the stresses, strains and pressures on young people who are carers. Does not a young carer, like any other young person, deserve the best shot at life, the best chances, the best opportunities? It is extremely hard to be a carer at any age. Imagine combining that with struggling to cope with schoolwork, GCSEs or A-levels, while growing up. Imagine the impact of that—the emotional pressure it would create. In this country we have a pupil premium, which is designed to develop a level playing field. Surely it is time that young carers were allowed on the pitch too.

National Carers Week is all about highlighting the silent heroes, of all ages, in our community, whose dedicated love keeps people safe, secure and often living in their own home. Without them, the economy and the community that we all love in our constituencies would collapse. Today, I hope that we help raise awareness and understanding, show our support, and highlight the different ways that we can improve and develop our national strategy.

I would like to finish by thanking each and every carer in my constituency and in the country for all their hard work.