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Written question asked by Dan Jarvis (Labour) on Thursday, 26 May 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 June 2016. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 June 2016 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Carers

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the financial effect on people caring for family members of the closure of the Independent Living Fund and the introduction of the Care Act 2014.

Answer

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) closed on 30 June 2015, with funding and responsibility transferring to local authorities in England and the Devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales. The Department has not made an assessment of the financial impact on those caring for family members, and at this stage does not plan to do so.

However, the Department has issued statutory guidance to local authorities to support this transfer of responsibility and to prevent any former ILF user having their care interrupted during the transfer. I have recently reminded local authorities of the need to comply with this guidance. In addition, the Care Act 2014 introduced important new rights for carers, and placed a duty on local authorities to assess adults who appear to have care and support needs and to meet those needs which meet the national eligibility criteria.

The Government has committed to publishing a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy before the end of 2016. A wide-ranging call for evidence is now underway to underpin the development of the Strategy, which will gather evidence from stakeholders, and carers themselves, on their experience of caring including issues of personal finance and the support they receive from local authorities.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
38788
Session
2016-17
Subjects
Carers Closures Finance Independent Living Fund
Legislation
Care Act 2014
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk