Labour must be brave on National Care Service and all parties must take urgent action on unpaid carers, Carers Trust says
Responding to the party manifesto launches, Carers Trust's CEO, Kirsty McHugh said:
“Labour’s manifesto commitment to a National Care Service is an important first step towards finally tackling the social care crisis. If it forms the next Government, the party needs to be brave and ambitious. It must overhaul Carer’s Allowance, introduce paid carers’ leave and ensure the National Care Service meets unpaid carers’ needs and enshrines their rights.
“This should be a day one priority. Many of the UK’s seven million carers are at breaking point. There are 1.5 million people caring for more than 50 hours a week, while 28% of carers have been driven into poverty. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of children are seeing their education and future prospects hit by caring for family members.
“That’s why, with the exception of one party, it is hugely disappointing that unpaid carers have been largely absent from manifestos. These are ordinary people trying to do the right thing by friends and family, filling holes left by our crumbling social care system. What they need is urgent action, whoever forms the next Government.”