Carers: Ministers urged to deliver on election promises

Ministers are “in danger of looking as if they made empty promises” if they do not make a statement soon on their policies for carers, say campaigners.

Party leaders were “falling over themselves” to appeal to carers during the general election campaign, said Gordon Conochie, policy and parliamentary officer at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care.

“Having made those promises to carers, they have to deliver.”

David Cameron and Nick Clegg warmly praised carers during the TV leaders’ debates. In their manifestos, the Liberal Democrats backed giving full-time carers the right to a week’s break from their role a year, and the Conservatives proposed giving carers increased access to direct payments.

The Tory policy was included in the coalition’s programme for government, but not the Lib Dems’. There is no other mention of carers in the document and no detail yet on how direct payment levels will be boosted.

Conochie’s comments followed calls from carers’ group Carer Watch for work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith to make a statement.

The previous government had promised to review the benefits after criticism of the level of financial and employment support given to carers. The main benefit, carer’s allowance, is worth £53.90 a week, and recipients are barred from earning more than £100 a week from work on top.

Emily Holzhausen, director of policy and public affairs at Carers UK, backed Carer Watch’s call. “The new secretary of state and his team have outlined their intentions for 21st century welfare reform, and it is now critical that they set a target to ensure that carers are not left in financial hardship as a result of caring,” she said.

Related articles

Lib Dem manifesto backs dementia research funding boost