Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support working carers with assets above the £23,450 upper threshold who wish to provide care for a family member while also maintaining a career and other family commitments.

We published a cross-Government Carers Action Plan 2018-2020, which included a range of actions to increase identification, recognition and support for unpaid carers. It is an essential step towards realising the Government’s commitment to valuing, recognising and supporting unpaid carers to provide care in a way that protects their own health and wellbeing, employment and life chances.

We are committed to examining further actions that will help support working carers with balancing their employment and caring responsibilities. We recently consulted on proposals to introduce a new employment right to one week of additional leave for unpaid carers and have committed to further encouraging flexible working, which we know has benefits for employers and their employees, including those with caring responsibilities.