Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what risks to the mental and physical wellbeing of unpaid carers his Department has identified as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

While no formal assessment has been made, local authorities have a duty under the Care Act 2014 to provide carers an assessment of and support for their needs, where eligible. This includes a duty to promote an individual’s wellbeing and consider the impact of the role as a carer. We continue to work with carers’ organisations to assess and understand carers’ needs and how best to support them.

During the pandemic, we have provided carers with guidance on their health and wellbeing; funding to Carers UK to extend their support phoneline; funding to the Carers Trust for grants to provide support to unpaid carers experiencing loneliness during the pandemic; and we have worked with the Social Care Institute for Excellence to publish guidance on reopening day services, providing respite to unpaid carers.

In addition, we have published our Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, supported by an additional £500 million in 2021/22, to ensure we have the right support in place, including for unpaid carers. We are working with key stakeholders, including unpaid carers, to develop our plans and will publish further detail in our white paper on social care reform shortly.