Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that adult social care service providers are (a) identifying and (b) referring vulnerable young carers for support during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government has published guidance for both schools and local authorities on how best to support to families and protect vulnerable children during the COVID-19 outbreak. This is available on GOV. UK. Local authority duties to assess the needs of young carers, under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, are unchanged.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, adult social care providers and services should still be maintaining their responsibilities under the Act to ensure young carers are identified and referred to appropriate support if needed.