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The special carers grant has so far failed to live up to expectations - especially in targeting ethnic minority carers. David Hepworth outlines what more needs to be done to help these 'hidden carers'.

The aspiration behind the special carers grant, introduced in 1999 under the Promoting Independence guidance,¹ was to provide carers with supportive services to relieve stress, promote their social inclusion and maintain their health.

However, studies from the King's Fund and the Carers National Association (CNA)suggest that local authorities have failed to live up to this aspiration during the grant's first years of operation. And if local authorities have failed carers generally, what are the chances for carers from minority ethnic communities?

There is no requirement for councils to identify specific developments or spending for minority ethnic carers, and there is now evidence that this has contributed to many local authorities overlooking them in their first special carers grant plans for 1999-2000.

During the first year, the King's Fund study revealed that only about half of local authorities had made any mention of black and minority ethnic carers, while the CNA North of England study found that councils had largely concentrated their energies and resources on known carers and organisations, and had missed those "hidden" carers not already known to social services.

The social policy research unit at the University of York followed up both organisations' work. In co-operation with CNA North of England, we carried out a more detailed analysis of the place of black and minority ethnic carers in special carers grant plans.

The findings make worrying reading. Most local authorities said little, if anything, about minority carers in their 1999-2000 plans. The north west is a case in point. Seven of the 17 local authorities in the region said nothing about black and minority ethnic carers, while four made only indirect references.

Consultation with this group of carers was poor. A small minority of councils did describe the mechanisms to include representatives from ethnic minorities, but most authorities' plans said nothing about consultation. Nor did they say how they would approach the assessment of black and minority ethnic carers, although some referred to this indirectly, quoting national quality standards and performance indicators.

A small minority of authorities spoke more specifically of the importance of monitoring assessment and ensuring the process was culturally appropriate. A slight majority of the 1999-2000 plans made some reference to services specifically in support of black and ethnic minorities, although sometimes in terms of general principle. Only seven authorities referred specifically to services provided for, and to some extent by, local ethnic communities.

This approach certainly challenges the principle of "mainstreaming" as endorsed by central government. The Department of Health's race equality report in 1999 defined mainstreaming as a "means of automatically considering the race equality dimension of everything that is done". But in practice, some local authorities appeared to be using this to justify a generalist approach that gave no consideration to the needs of ethnic minorities.

The way mainstreaming has operated has even been questioned by the DoH itself. A 1999 report, Study of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority Issues,² suggested this policy principle might explain the tendency of central government to focus on "activities from which all citizens will benefit", yet at the same time to overlook special needs and circumstances. It supported the conclusion that when agencies claimed that they treated everyone the same, they had either not considered the needs of ethnic minorities or had decided to ignore them.

With regard to the influence of this policy principle on local authorities, the Social Services Inspectorate, again in a 1999 report,³ suggested that "social services departments should re-think the approach of providing a common service for everyone and treating both black and white older people the same".

So, what does this tell us about government's mainstreaming emphasis? One conclusion is that it needs to get its act together. It should clarify its principle of mainstreaming services and, by example and guidance, counteract the way it is abused. The response to the original Promoting Independence guidance for the special carers grant illustrates the need for government to be more explicit in its direction and guidance about the needs of black and minority ethnic carers.

Maybe the DoH is beginning to get the message that mainstreaming is sometimes indistinguishable from ignoring ethnic minorities. The performance assessment framework has included indicators in respect of the ethnicity of a variety of groups, including children in need, people receiving assessment and adults receiving services following an assessment. Also the King's Fund analysis of the second-year grants⁴ identified greater recognition of the needs of carers from minority communities, and an increased proportion of targeted spending.

Yet, despite these moves away from the discriminatory effects of a simplistic generalist approach, the draft policy and practice guidance for the Carers and Disabled Children's Act 2000 made limited reference to dealing with black and minority ethnic carers. The guidance highlighted the need for equity in eligibility criteria, and referred organisations and practitioners to the guidance on fair access to care services. Yet none of the 10 practice examples given in the draft guidance related to black and minority ethnic people, and the fair access guidance had not been published.

If minority ethnic carers and their needs are not to stay hidden, the government must be more detailed in its guidance about assessing and meeting their needs.

¹ Department of Health, Promoting Independence, DoH, 1999

² Ziggi Alexander, Study of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority Issues, Department of Health, 2000

³ Social Services Inspectorate, The Look After Their Own, Don't They? SSI, 1999

⁴ The King's Fund, More Breaks for Carers, King's Fund, 2001

David Hepworth is a visiting research fellow at the social policy research unit, University of York.