Law to Change on Young Carers
The Children’s Minister, Edward Timpson has told Parliament that the Government intends to change the law to improve rights for young carers.
The news comes after many weeks of campaigning from leading national organisations and the public trying to get the law changed to improve the lives of young carers and their families.
Professor Jo Aldridge, who leads the Young Carers Research Group at Loughborough University - and which is part of the National Young Carers Coalition, the group that has been leading the campaign for change – says the news is a reflection of how much the public and leading national agencies such as the Carers Trust recognise and support the needs of young carers and their families.
‘It is reassuring to know that so many people are behind young carers and that the government has recognized the need to support them in law; the introduction of the Children and Families Bill and the Care Bill will provide opportunities for important legislative change,’ said Professor Aldridge.
The Young Carers Research pioneered research on young carers and their families in the 1990s. Prior to this children who undertook caring roles for their ill or disabled families were not recognized or supported in UK policy and practice.
Recently there have also been significant global advances for young carers, including recognition of their rights in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and a new screening tool that will enable young carers to be identified in those countries and states that do not currently recognise children’s caring roles. Both of these recent developments have come from the work of Aldridge and her colleagues in the YCRG.
‘Here in the UK we lead the way in terms of evidence-based policy and practice on young carers and their families and it is good to know that the research that we do on young carers is having such an impact both at home and abroad,’ said Professor Aldridge.
The Minister’s statement:
“On young carers, in Committee we heard heart-felt arguments about the need to do more for young carers. I promised to reflect carefully on the arguments for legislative change. Since then I have discussed the matter with the Minister for care services, my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), and we have agreed that our joint aim is to ensure that young carers are protected. We firmly believe that taking a “whole family” approach to the assessment of care needs will be the key to achieving just that. I have now given the matter careful thought and, with the changes being introduced by the Care Bill for adult carers, I am persuaded that the time is right to see what we can do to remove any barriers that may be preventing these vulnerable young people and their families from receiving the life-changing support they need.
I have asked officials to look at how the legislation for young carers might be changed so that rights and responsibilities are clearer to young carers and practitioners alike. We will also look at how we can ensure that children’s legislation works with adults’ legislation to support the linking of assessments, as set out in the Care Bill, to enable “whole family” approaches. We will ensure that interested parties, including hon. Members, are consulted on that work.”
For further information about the Minister’s statement and the work of the National Young Carers Coalition please see: the Carers Trust: and the Young Carers Research Group website.
June 2013