Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the access of carers to employment opportunities; what potential barriers to working have been identified; and what steps she plans to take to tackle those barriers.

Many carers experience considerable challenges balancing work with caring responsibilities. This can have a big impact on their careers and limit their participation in the workplace. The impact falls disproportionately on women, who make up 60 per cent of carers.

Regulations for flexible working arrangements may be particularly beneficial for carers, the Government has made a clear commitment to encourage flexible working, and will be consulting on making it the default position. The Government has also consulted on proposals to introduce a new employment right to one week’s additional leave for unpaid carers, to support those with caring responsibilities balance employment. The consultation received a significant number of replies, and the Government will issue its response in due course on the way forward.

Carers are being particularly impacted by COVID-19 and the government is committed to promoting the benefits of retaining them in the workforce, for both carer and employer. To support carers to remain in work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department have been working with employer organisations to encourage employers, including small and medium sized enterprises, to retain employees who are carers, hosting a series of webinars delivered by the Business Champion for Older Workers and Employers for Carers. Carers can also access other resources, for example the Business in the Community (BITC) Supporting Carers toolkit, or COVID 19: Supporting Carers in the work place, published in March 2020.

For those who become unemployed, The Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged over 50, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. As part of the Jobcentre Plus offer for over 50s, we are also providing dedicated support through 50 PLUS Champions, and mentoring circles to ensure they fully benefit from the Plan for Jobs package and existing Jobcentre Plus support.

Jobcentre Plus is geared-up to offer advice to those claiming welfare benefits. They also offer on a voluntary basis, to all carers working less than 16 hours per week and irrespective of benefit status (subject to any existing conditionality): adviser support; access to the Flexible Support Fund; and payment for replacement care, childcare, travel and course costs to allow the carer to undertake approved activity or interviews with Jobcentre Plus, providers or employers.