Coalition responses

Below you can find a response to each section of The Coalition: our programme for government. These responses focus on the main themes raised in each section.

Details in full here

Carers need immediate statement from coalition Government

Since the new coalition came to power there has been much noise made about their new programme for government and now Welfare reform. Yet one group of people overlooked is family carers. There has been no details forthcoming which outlines the governments plans for Carer Benefits’.

Spanning many years there has been report after report, suggestions made by think tanks, select committees, consultations, Big Care Debate, green/white papers for Welfare Reform and reform of Social Care. And yet….Carers are still waiting

A few examples ..

July 2007
Breakthrough Britain

Family carers are undervalued in our society and receive a disproportionately low level of financial support given the many hours of work that they do.

Carers of elderly and disabled people are not adequately resourced or recognize for the work they do.

April 2008
Carerwatch Submission to the Work and Pensions Select Committee Enquiry into the Government’s Carers’ Strategy

August 2008
Give family carers £110 a week wages, MPs demand

Nov 2008
No 10 e petition re proposals of carers moving to JSA

Carers UK campaigns page

PRTC 5 election asks for carers

The list could go on but we think the message these few examples give is loud and clear.

Carer Watch ask that the new coalition govt, along with DWP Secretary of State for Works and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith, give a statement regarding their intentions re Carers Benefits.

Carers have accepted their responsibilites, when will the government accept theirs?

Care system’s last days

While none of the big three parties have the answers, it is clear that massive change is ahead for the adult social care system.

Hopes that social care would be a big election issue seem to have faded. But it now looks even more likely that social care funding will be one of the big post-election problems that any new government will have to sort out. Worryingly, there still seem to be big questions for all major parties to answer about social care if they are to carry conviction

.

Read full article by Peter Beresford , professor of social work at Brunel University and chair of service user organisation Shaping Our Lives

Guest blog – Benefits and Work

Carer Watch would like to thank Steve at Benefits and Work for inviting us to be a guest on their blog site.

The article we submitted can be read here . Please add your own comments too.

Carer Watch response to White Paper Social Care

Carer Watch acknowledges the White Paper on Social Care, “Building a National Care Service”, for the importance it places on vital issues that will affect our society as a whole. Whilst elements of the paper hold true, we believe the starting point to be incorrect. Any proposal suggested to date, if implemented, would not be sustainable long term, without the strong foundation that family carers provide. They are the base that any new National Care Service must build upon. Both the NHS and Social Services rely heavily upon families shouldering the main burden of care now, and will do even more so in the future.

The most glaringly obvious omission in the White Paper is the ……..  read in full  here

Building a National Care Service

All relevant material will be added here