Carers Trust responds to Chancellor's Spending Review
In his Spending Review today Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out the government’s spending priorities for the coming year. Carers Trust responds below to the Spending Review and the government’s continuing failure to support exhausted unpaid carers, many of whom are experiencing severe financial hardship.
In Carers Trust’s report A Few Hours A Week To Call My Own, released just yesterday, unpaid carers told us in large numbers that what they urgently need is a break from their caring role, better support for the person they care for, and more financial support. Today’s Spending Review fails to show the commitment unpaid carers were looking for and fails to provide the urgent support they need.
Responding to the Spending Review, Carers Trust CEO, Gareth Howells, says:
‘This year has been tough on us all, but none more so than unpaid carers. Our report highlights the issues unpaid carers have faced long before the pandemic and will now continue to face as we see a lack of support for unpaid carers in this one-year Spending Review.
‘In our report, only 12% of unpaid carers agreed they received enough support in their caring role, and over 50% have had to give up work or reduce their hours because of their caring role. The Spending Review has not addressed these issues for unpaid carers who tirelessly work around the clock to look after the people they love, and who are also some of the most vulnerable people in society.
‘Our report also tells us that 64% of unpaid carers are now providing over 50 hours of care per week. Without a sustainable long-term solution for social care, unpaid carers will continue to be stretched to breaking point. Unpaid carers urgently need the government to fix social care.’