Responding to today’s speech by King Charles III, Emily Holzhausen CBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Carers UK, said:
“We welcome the introduction of the Employment Rights Bill and provisions for workers. There are just under 2.5 million unpaid carers in the country today who are juggling work and caring for an ill, elderly or disabled relative. A shocking 600 unpaid carers leave employment every day and these provisions will go some way to help unpaid carers remain in work and strengthen the Government’s economic growth agenda.
“We commend the planned provisions around flexible working and also want to see a swift review looking at the benefits of paid Carer’s Leave, paving the way for this to be included in the Employment Rights Bill. These combined measures would make a significant different to unpaid carers’ lives.
“We welcome the commitment in the King’s Speech to reduce NHS waiting times and fix the NHS. In the development of the Government’s 10-year plan for the NHS we must see robust and detailed measures to better support millions of unpaid carers who already act like a second NHS.
“We know that millions of unpaid carers are at breaking point, providing more care than ever before due to shortages in social care, long NHS waiting times, and an outdated benefit system which leaves carers in debt to the DWP. Unpaid carers save the economy £162 billion per year – the equivalent of a second NHS, yet many feel invisible and forgotten.
"It is disappointing that the commitment to build a National Care Service was not specifically mentioned in the King’s Speech alongside the important commitments on the NHS. We hope that the Government will bring forward its plans for how it intends to take this forward urgently, alongside ambitious plans for the development of a new National Carers Strategy.
“Unpaid is caring tough and millions of carers are stretched both financially and emotionally. While focussing on the legislative programme for the coming Parliamentary session, we need to see the Government use secondary legislation to raise the earnings limit for Carer's Allowance, to peg it to the National Living Wage. This would mean that unpaid carers would benefit from pay rises, rather than being penalised by them.
“We know that 71% of unpaid carers are worried about whether they can manage in the future, and 23% are in debt because of caring. As our population ages, it is vital that this Government prioritises the needs of millions of unpaid carers across the UK who already go above and beyond.”