Carers

(asked on 12th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available for (a) young carers and (b) people who have become carers during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 22nd November 2021

Local authorities have a duty to assess the needs of young carers, under the Children and Families Act 2014, which has remained in place throughout the pandemic. Local authorities must ensure young carers are identified and referred to appropriate support if needed and that the young carer is not taking on excessive or inappropriate care and support responsibilities. Adult carers also have legal rights to an assessment of and support for their needs where eligible from their local authority under the Care Act 2014.

We have also provided funding to a number of charities to support carers, produced guidance for carers, provided access to personal protective equipment and priority access in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. In addition, we have invested nearly £5 billion towards education recovery, which includes £1 billion for schools to support young carer’s mental health and wellbeing alongside academic recovery. We will work with the sector, including unpaid carers, to develop our future plans to support carers and will publish further detail in a white paper for reform later this year.

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