The MP for Brighton Pavilion has joined forces with Carers UK to sponsor a new piece of legislation designed to help identify and boost support for the 5 million carers across the country.

A new ‘Private Member’s Bill – a piece of legislation proposed by a backbench MP rather than the Government – has been proposed by Barbara Keeley MP and Caroline is one of 11 MPs who have thrown their weight behind it by ‘co-sponsoring’ the Bill.

 The Bill, drafted by national charity Carers UK, seeks to:

• revolutionise the way that local authorities plan social care services in their areas for people who by services themselves as well as those who rely on council social care services.
• focuses on ensuring the right services are planned and developed to help carers struggling to juggle work and caring for ill or disabled loved ones

• creates duties on the NHS, schools, colleges and universities to identify carers and signpost them to support and advice.

Carers often take a long time to identify themselves as carers. Carers UK found that 25% of carers took 5 years or more to recognise themselves as a carer and each year about 2.2 million people start caring and a similar proportion cease caring.[i]

Many just see themselves as sons, daughters, siblings, partners or parents supporting loved ones and do not see themselves as ‘carers’ – missing out on vital financial support as a result.

By placing duties on health and education bodies, the Bill would speed up the identification of carers and allow help and support to be made available earlier.

The Bill also draws attention to the growing problems of people being forced to give up work to care – putting at risk their family finances but also costing the UK an estimated £5.3 billion a year in lost tax revenues and additional benefit payments.

Currently an estimated 1 in 6 carers end up giving up work to care[ii] and a Carers UK survey last year found that 31% of working age carers did so because support services in their area were not suitable.[iii]

Caroline said: “Carers make a massive contribution to our society – yet many only access support when they reach breaking point.

“This Bill would help ensure that GPs and hospitals are identifying carers and getting them support early, and also making sure that schools and colleges are identifying and supporting young carers who may be struggling to care for disabled parents.

“With an ageing population we also need to make sure we are planning for the future and delivering enough support for older and disabled people and their families.

“This piece of legislation would help councils to ensure there is enough support in their area to support people who need care and help their families who may be juggling work with caring.”

Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy at Carers UK, welcomed the bill, saying: “Every day we at Carers UK hear about carers who’ve been struggling to care for their families, not knowing what support is available to.

“This Bill would make identifying carers and getting them the support they need, a real priority for public services.

“It would also bring about a revolution in the way we deliver social care services – for the first time looking at whether families have enough access to care, particularly the support they need to juggle work and care.”

ENDS