Olly Glover
Main Page: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)Department Debates - View all Olly Glover's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(2 days, 9 hours ago)
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Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)
I commend my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) for introducing this debate. I echo his call for an end to unfair overpayment claims as a result of the earnings limit, and for a comprehensive review of support for carers. I will now share some stories about carers who I have met over the years, or who are in my constituency.
As a volunteer for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, I have seen the toll that that terrible disease takes on families and their carers. Many of the people who get MND are elderly and they see their lives change from a relaxing retirement with their partner after many years of work to one person having MND and their spouse becoming a carer. That is very challenging for people who have led self-sufficient lives and lose their mobility and independence.
It is also important, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) said, that we consider the experiences of the next generation of carers. Sometimes motor neurone disease can affect much younger people. One person I supported was a single parent with a four-year-old child. I saw the impact that caring responsibilities can have on children and young carers; even where really good care arrangements are in place, there is still the physical and emotional toll of being an unpaid carer.
In Oxfordshire we have 12,000 young carers; the Be Free Young Carers charity supports around 650 of them. It has been estimated that families that have a young carer earn £5,000 more than those who do not have a young carer, but while contributing huge economic benefit, young carers are one and a half times more likely to have a long-term illness or special educational needs.
A child I am calling Katie registered with Be Free Young Carers in March 2023. She cares for her twin sister, who has autism. In April 2023, Katie attended a one-to-one session that enabled her to open up about how she was feeling and the support she needed to continue her schoolwork. Later that year, Katie’s dad was diagnosed with MS, which added further pressure and led Katie’s sister to try to take her own life. After such a series of events many children would have struggled, but Katie has coped and is doing well. She has attended 13 respite trips over the past two years, including the young carers’ festival, and has a lovely group of friends. She is also a member of the charity’s youth panel. She has spoken about the Be Free Young Carers charity on local television news.
It is vital that we support all carers, including young carers such as Katie. I commend the motion to the House.