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Carers

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. As a member of the Select Committee, I should say that although the report might look like a mighty tome, it is very readable, and I recommend that any Member who has not read it do so, because it contains some useful information. The evidence that we heard from many organisations and individuals proved hugely useful to us, but the report has also been useful to them. The Chairman of the Select Committee, in his opening speech, quite rightly set us a challenge. We here are the voice of carers, and the evidence in the report gives voice to their concerns. It is our responsibility to champion their needs, and the report provides a huge wealth of evidence to help the Government to respond to the challenge that we have set. We started the report by defining who carers are, because much ignorance still surrounds that point. The majority of carers are women, but, as the statistics in the report show, over the age of 70 the majority are men. The men in this Chamber, therefore, should be looking to the future too. As they grow older, they, too, could become carers—I heard the Chairman's remarks about his caring responsibilities. Our report also makes the point that many do not see themselves as carers with a capital ““C””—they are family, friends and neighbours, and are doing what they think is right, because of which they do not seek advice about available help. We need to remind them that no matter what their role or their hours of caring, they should find out what additional support is available. Our report itemises that support. The report raises another important issue. Too few people understand the importance of the role of the Department for Work and Pensions with regard to carers. If asked, many members of the public and carers would talk about the need for support from health and social services, because they provide the help—either by coming directly into their homes or through respite care in hospitals, day centres and residential care—but for the majority of carers, if they have any dealings with a Department, it is likely to be the DWP, whether through benefits and pensions, support in obtaining employment, support when they are in work or through the carer's allowance. The DWP plays a key role. On page 19 in paragraph 37, the report outlines the strategic approach that the DWP should take to support carers. Some of our recommendations are fairly obvious, such as supporting adults and children financially—too many children take on caring responsibilities without telling anyone, because they do not want their school friends and other family members and friends to know. They, too, need support. However, one of the key recommendations concerning the role of the DWP is for a joined-up, cross-governmental approach. The DWP needs to work with the Department of Health. I was pleased, therefore, that we received evidence not only from many organisations supporting or representing carers, but from the then disabilities Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Mrs. McGuire), and the then social services Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis). They understood the importance of working together and were very positive about the role that they should have across Departments. They were speaking at a time when the Government had only recently announced their cross-departmental carers strategy. Interestingly, that strategy did not include benefits, which is why the report is so key—it fills a gap in the strategy. Carers wanted to know how much money and what support they could get from the DWP, and we made recommendations concerning that. I would like to pick up on some of the comments that our Chairman made about the importance of information, advice and guidance. We received evidence of how carers do not know who to go to—sometimes they go to point A without being told what point B can offer them. The report discusses the importance of a joined-up approach. We welcome the Government's commitment to providing"““every carer with the opportunity to access comprehensive information when they need to””." We asked when and how, and also commented on the information and services helpline for carers that the Department of Health has set up. However, there is still a gap. Saga's submission recommended that the Government consider an equivalent to NHS Direct—a ““Carers Direct””. Our report mentions the importance of carers' centres as a focus for care and advice. As our Chairman said, we have recommended that carers' centres be put on a much firmer footing. The Government response said that that is the responsibility of local authorities and the agencies with which they work. Interestingly, the Local Government Association agrees with the Government's response to our comments, which surprises me, because one problem for local authorities is that they are not in a position to offer ongoing funding to carers' centres. That support tends to be piecemeal and for one, two or three years at a time or for specific initiatives. Furthermore, there are problems for carers' centres that cover more than one local authority. The centre in Harrogate, for example, covers three local authorities and the same number of primary care trusts. It is extremely difficult to organise and bid for finance from several different bodies.