A Fair Deal for Family Carers

Submitted by: 10 party members
Mover: Daisy Cooper MP (Spokesperson for Health and Care)
Summation: TBA

Conference notes that:

1. There are 10.6 million people across the UK who give unpaid support to someone who is elderly, seriously ill or disabled or who has a drug or alcohol addiction; this includes around one million young carers under the age of 18.
2. Carer's Allowance, the main benefit for carers, remains the lowest benefit of its kind at £81.90 per week and 1.4 million full-time unpaid carers rely on the benefit.
3. Those caring for family members and friends are saving the taxpayer and state over £160 billion every year.
4. A Carers Trust survey shows that 14% of unpaid carers had to use a food bank this year.
5. One in seven people in the workplace in the UK are juggling work and care and 59% of unpaid carers are women.
6. 52% of carers who apply for flexible working have their applications refused and 72% want to work or work more if they could access flexible working.
7. Too many carers are currently excluded from receiving Carer's Allowance due to the eligibility criteria being set too high, for example excluding full-time students and requiring carers to care for one person for at least 35 hours a week.
8. The Conservatives failed to tackle the scandal of thousands of Carer's Allowance recipients being issued disproportionate fines for overpayments.
9. The Liberal Democrats secured a legal entitlement to unpaid leave for unpaid carers in the last parliament.
10. The Liberal Democrats continue to call for cross-party talks to agree a long-term basis for sustainably funding social care into the future.
11. Department for Education data shows that 39% of young carers are ‘persistently absent’, missing at least one day of school a fortnight, almost twice as high as the figure for pupils who are not young carers; young carers are also significantly less likely to gain a degree or enter employment.
12. The launch of the Young Carers Covenant by Carers Trust in March 2024, a UK-wide commitment to young carers and young adult carers.
13. There has not been a UK Government plan for improving support for unpaid carers since 2020.

Conference believes that:

1. The Liberal Democrats must stand up for all carers, ensure their voices are heard in this new parliament, and work to build a more caring society.
2. We can only tackle the crisis in our NHS if we fix social care and support the millions of unpaid carers across the country.
3. Social care is an essential service, like healthcare or education, and should be designed to ensure that everyone is able to live with independence and in dignity.
4. Unpaid carers deserve a fair deal for their skilled work that saves the country billions every year.
5. All carers are too often ignored by government and left to fend for themselves.
6. No one who cares for their loved ones should be living in poverty because the government has failed to support them.
7. Supporting unpaid carers will create a fairer society and improve gender equality.
8. Young carers should be supported to have the same access to education, employment and life opportunities as their peers without caring responsibilities.

Conference calls on the new Government to:

1. Ensure unpaid carers are at the heart of every announcement including any cross-party talks on social care.
2. Stop prosecuting and pursuing unpaid carers for overpayments of Carer's Allowance.
3. Raise the amount carers can earn before losing Carer's Allowance to be significantly higher than the current £151-a-week threshold and introduce a taper so that unpaid carers are not subject to a cliff edge removal of benefits.
4. Raise Carer's Allowance by £20 a week, reduce the number of hours' care per week required to qualify for it and extend it to carers in full-time education.
5. Introduce paid carer's leave, building on the entitlement to unpaid leave secured by the Liberal Democrats.
6. Introduce a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks for unpaid carers including parent carers and young carers.
7. Make flexible working a 'day one' right unless there are significant business reasons why that is not possible.
8. Proactively support the Young Carers Covenant and set out how it plans to ensure that the needs of young carers are proactively considered in its mission to break down barriers to opportunity for all young people.
9. Introduce a cross-government national All-Ages Carers Strategy, produced in partnership with carers and funded to meet its objectives.

Applicability: England only.

Motion before amendment

Conference notes that:

1. There are 10.6 million people across the UK who give unpaid support to someone who is elderly, seriously ill or disabled.
2. Carer's Allowance, the main benefit for carers, remains the lowest benefit of its kind at £81.90 per week and 1.4 million full-time unpaid carers rely on the benefit.
3. Those caring for family members and friends are saving the taxpayer and state over £160 billion every year.
4. A Carers Trust survey shows that 14% of unpaid carers had to use a food bank this year.
5. One in seven people in the workplace in the UK are juggling work and care and 59% of unpaid carers are women.
6. 52% of carers who apply for flexible working have their applications refused and 72% want to work or work more if they could access flexible working.
7. Too many carers are currently excluded from receiving Carer's Allowance due to the eligibility criteria being set too low.
8. The Conservatives failed to tackle the scandal of thousands of Carer's Allowance recipients being issued disproportionate fines for overpayments.
9. The Liberal Democrats secured a legal entitlement to unpaid leave for unpaid carers in the last parliament.
10. The Liberal Democrats continue to call for cross-party talks to agree a long-term basis for sustainably funding social care into the future.

Conference believes that:

1. The Liberal Democrats must stand up for all carers, ensure their voices are heard in this new parliament, and work to build a more caring society.
2. We can only tackle the crisis in our NHS if we fix social care and support the millions of unpaid carers across the country.
3. Social care is an essential service, like healthcare or education, and should be designed to ensure that everyone is able to live with independence and in dignity.
4. Unpaid carers deserve a fair deal for their skilled work that saves the country billions every year.
5. All carers are too often ignored by government and left to fend for themselves.
6. No one who cares for their loved ones should be living in poverty because the government has failed to support them.
7. Supporting unpaid carers will create a fairer society and improve gender equality.

Conference calls on the new Government to:

1. Ensure unpaid carers are at the heart of every announcement including any cross-party talks on social care.
2. Stop prosecuting and pursuing unpaid carers for overpayments of Carer's Allowance.
3. Raise the amount carers can earn before losing Carer's Allowance to be significantly higher than the current £151-a-week threshold and introduce a taper so that unpaid carers are not subject to a cliff edge removal of benefits.
4. Raise Carer's Allowance by £20 a week, reduce the number of hours' care per week required to qualify for it and extend it to carers in full-time education.
5. Introduce paid carer's leave, building on the entitlement to unpaid leave secured by the Liberal Democrats.
6. Introduce a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks for unpaid carers.
7. Make flexible working a 'day one' right unless there are significant business reasons why that is not possible.

Applicability: England only.

Amendments

The FCC has agreed to make the following drafting amendments to the motion:

In vii) (line 17), delete ‘low’ and insert ‘high’.

Amendment One

PASSED

Submitted by: West Suffolk
Mover: Andy McGowan
Summation: Helen Korfanty

In i) (line 3), after ‘disabled’ insert ‘or who has a drug or alcohol addiction; this includes around one million young carers under the age of 18’.

In vii) (line 17), after ‘too high’ insert ‘, for example excluding full-time students and requiring carers to care for one person for at least 35 hours a week’.

After x) (line 25), insert:

xi) Department for Education data shows that 39% of young carers are ‘persistently absent’, missing at least one day of school a fortnight, almost twice as high as the figure for pupils who are not young carers; young carers are also significantly less likely to gain a degree or enter employment.

xii) The launch of the Young Carers Covenant by Carers Trust in March 2024, a UK-wide commitment to young carers and young adult carers.

xiii) There has not been a UK Government plan for improving support for unpaid carers since 2020.

After g) (line 42), insert:

h) Young carers should be supported to have the same access to education, employment and life opportunities as their peers without caring responsibilities.

In 6. (line 58), after ‘carers’ insert ‘including parent carers and young carers’.

After 7. (line 60), insert:

8. Proactively support the Young Carers Covenant and set out how it plans to ensure that the needs of young carers are proactively considered in its mission to break down barriers to opportunity for all young people.

9. Introduce a cross-government national All-Ages Carers Strategy, produced in partnership with carers and funded to meet its objectives.

Amendment Two

PASSED

Submitted by: 10 members
Mover: Katharine Pindar
Summation: Michael Berwick-Gooding

In 3. (line 49), delete ‘be significantly higher than’ and insert ‘the equivalent of 21 hours a week at the National Living Wage from’.

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Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see page 8 of the agenda. 

The deadline for amendments to this motion, see pages 10–11, and for requests for separate votes, see pages 7–8 of the agenda, is 09.00 Thursday 12 September. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday’s Conference Daily.