We are extremely anxious of the knock on effect this would have to family carers in receipt of Carers Allowance for those affected. This double whammy would have grave consequences on the income of many families, that are already suffering with disproportionate cuts to benefits and social care.
On Thursday 9 June, MPs will take part in a debate in the House of Commons Chamber on carers. This debate was recommended by the Backbench Business Committee following a representation from Mims Davies MP.
This debate will be opened by Mims Davies, Conservative MP for Eastleigh
Transcripts of proceedings in the Commons Chamber are available three hours after they happen in Today’s Commons Debates.
From Monday 6 June members of the public can inform the Backbench Business debate by joining the conversation on the Carers Week Facebook page at www.facebook.com/carersweek.
The Backbench Business Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject.
The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal. The Committee’s meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.
copied from Parliament site
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From time to time, every carer needs support to help them look after the person they are caring for.
Sometimes that will mean getting equipment installed in their home so that they can meet the needs of the person they support. Other times it might mean calling in home help so that they can keep up with their housework.
The importance of these services cannot be overstated. They mean that carers can provide the best support possible to their friend or family member whilst maintaining their own health.
read in full from CarersTrust
Short report can be read here Full report here
Twitter users – #WelfareDebate15
Tuesday May 5th Daily Politics debate
BBC2 2pm
BBC Parliament 9.00pm
BBC News 9.30pm
Presenters Andrew Neil and Alison Holt
Participants –
Iain Duncan Smith Conservative
Rachel Reeves Labour
Steve Webb LibDems
Suzanne Evans UKIP
Jonathan Bartley Green Party
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Non-attendance (see below) recently by the purveyors of welfare reform suggests that they deem themselves to be unaccountable for their actions.
Will Mr Smith attend this debate or will the quiet man become the invisible man AGAIN
Iain Duncan Smith fails to show up for General Election hustings in his own constituency
Britain asks: where is David Cameron?
Wirral West MP Esther McVey pulls out of live radio interview in Liverpool city centre
‘Ashamed’ Tories quit Newsnight welfare debate at the last moment
Many disabled people and carers will be watching this show. They have borne the brunt of these cuts and are living in dread of the prospect of the further £12billion cuts to welfare promised by the Conservatives.
With many thanks to those that added their name in support of this letter to the Guardian.
If you wish to add your support please add your name in the comments section
What does Carers Allowance mean to you ? again leave a comment.
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Family carers are among the most responsible members of society. CarerWatch, along with others, believes suggestions made in recent leaked documents of moving carers to universal credit would result in an unfair system that gives no recognition whatsoever of the contribution carers make to society.
CarerWatch believes that governments should accept their responsibility to carers. Carers deserve a livable income, a separate benefit which recognises that they are not unemployed or “passive” recipients of benefit but are making an important contribution to society.
Those in receipt of carer’s allowance cannot be classed as being inactive. Carers are unique within the benefit system in that they have to (more…)
copied over from Huff Post Politics
Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP suggests £60k, which goes up to £80k due to his chairmanship of parliamentary intelligence committee, justifies offering his services to a “Chinese company” for extra renumeriation. The sting has seen him suspended from The Conservative Party. I reflect that leaving my professional career to look after my disabled brother, saves the taxpayer the equivalent to paying his salary.
Dear Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP
I can sympathise you want a professional pay package to compensate you for the sacrifice you have made in public service. I can only apologise that sacrificing my own professional career to continue the care of my disabled brother, saving the tax payer £80,000 a year, was not enough to keep you in the manner you wish to be accustomed. (more…)
Audio from LBC – CLICK HERE
Petrie Hosken LBC hears from Joshua in Manor House who is too poor to properly care for his mother.
This is the reality faced by many carers. Please share
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If you need advice and support please contact admin@carerwatch.com
You can also contact the following organisations –
When undertaking a new task it is vital you read the manuals first. The more information you take on board at the beginning, can hopefully be of benefit to you as you go along.
Caring can be like that. For many people they can become carers in the blink of an eye, for others it is a slow progress of offering assistance, that in time takes over your life and becomes a full time job. We always think it happens to someone else so no, or very little, preparation is taken.
Yet the impact of being an unpaid carer can be felt on every aspect of your life. From finances, employment, social time, education, family life etc.
With the current welfare reforms, cuts to social care – there has never been a greater need than now for carers to be informed of their rights, to be signposted to support.
Check with your local council if your town has a local support group, or input your area here
There are national organisations online that have free phone numbers if needing advice, online forums where you can meet other carers.
If you have any questions/ need more information please email admin@carerwatch.com or leave a comment below
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Press release from CarersUK
11 September 2014
Carers across the UK are being pushed to the brink – suffering exhaustion, physical and mental breakdown as they struggle to care for older or disabled loved ones.
Carers UK’s Carers at breaking point research – based on a survey of over 5,000 carers1 – shows:
Recently CarerWatch posted a response relating to a manifesto promise for carers from the LibDems. You can read it here
We received wide spread support for the post, and also exchanged tweets with Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam. As a result we contacted Mr Burstow asking if he wished to respond more fully to our comments. (Many carers are tied to the home and engaging online is their only way of engaging with politicians.)
You can read his reply below……..
Feel free to add comments/questions. We will be sending copies to Mr Burstow, along with politicians from other parties. Any replies will be posted in the open again.
A few weeks ago Nick Clegg announced the first of a series of policies for carers. The Carer’s Bonus, £250 paid annually, on top of the Carers Allowance, for the carer to use as they see fit. The proposal sparked a lot of debate, and CarerWatch posted a strong critique of the plan. I am grateful for the opportunity to respond.
Caring responsibilities can come at any time in a person’s life and can exact a heavy price in both health and wealth. About 6 in 10 of us will become carers at some point in our lives, and 45% of carers have given up work to care.
The bonus idea was developed by the Liberal Democrats Ageing Society Working Group, which I chair, as part of our Age Ready Britain policy paper.
The bonus would be paid annually to Carers to use as they see fit, for example as a contribution toward extra costs such as taking a break. To start with it would be set at £125, doubling to £250 no later than 2020. The Bonus is more like a direct payment to contribute to things like respite care. It is not intended to be an answer to all the financial challenges faced by Carers.
This would put extra money in Carers’ hands to make their own decisions about how it can best support them. The Carer’s Bonus marks out our commitment to promoting the wellbeing of carers and is the first of a number of proposals aimed at better supporting carers that we spell out in our policy paper Age Ready Britain which will be published in September.
The £250 payment would be available to around a million people based on underlying entitlement to the benefit. So, for example, pensioners who are eligible for Carers allowance but because of overlapping benefit rules do not receive it would receive the Bonus. It would start at £125 and increase year on year to £250 no later than 2020.
The proposal builds on measures we have taken in Government like investing £400mn in NHS funded respite breaks, or new rights for Carers in the Care Act and Children and Families Act, and rights to flexible working.
I agree with the comments about the earnings disregard and the withdrawal of the benefit when engaged in education and these are issues we address on Age Ready Britain.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond.
Paul
* Paul Burstow is Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam.
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