Government Concedes to Pressure from Carers

6.14.36pm GMT Wed 10th Mar 2010

Following a campaign by carers and carers organisations supported by local MP, Paul Burstow, the Care Services Minister Phil Hope MP has announced that he will hold Primary Care Trusts accountable for their spending on carers' breaks.

The announcement was made at the Building Society to Care roundtable discussion held yesterday (9 March 2010), hosted by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, founder of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. The announcement comes after mounting pressure from carers and carers' organisations and MPs, following the widely publicised report No Breaks for Carers which revealed that of the £50m allocated to PCTs, only 23% was being used on to increase services for carers.

Mr Burstow who was recently appointed as a Carers Ambassador by Carers UK also attended the rountable discussion. He has been pressing the local Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust to spell out how it has spent the money allocated to it for carers.

Last year Mr Burstow challenged Sutton and Merton PCT bosses to spell out how they were using £364,000 given to them to pay for carers breaks. After months of silence the PCT finally published figures that revealed it had siphoned off £214,000 into other spending. In April the PCT will receive a further £726,230 for carers.

Commenting on Phil Hope's MP announcement, Paul Burstow said:

"The Minister is shutting ther stable door after the horse has bolted. The money has already been siphoned off this year and there is a real risk that this will happen again in the coming year.

"This funding for carers breaks should be a must do. I was able to make that firm commitment on behalf of the Liberal Democrats at the roundtable yesterday."

Carole Cochrane, Chief Executive of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers said:

"Although this gesture is a step in the right direction, this is only a commitment to honour an existing pledge.

"We welcome the Liberal Democrats' firm commitment to spend £500m on breaks for carers, and although breaks are vital, this is not the whole picture. We want all parties to match this commitment, and to guarantee carers access to financial advice, emotional support and specialised information.

"Carers are fed up with politicians making vague pledges. It is the time the parties realised that they cannot change or improve care in the UK without improving support for the six million carers."

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

No Breaks for Carers release - http://www.carers.org/news/health-bodies-fail-carers,5110,NW.html

Building Society to Care roundtable discussion - Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, founder of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, attended 'Building Society to Care' roundtable discussion on Tuesday 9 March 2010. Care Services Minister Phil Hope MP, Shadow Minister for Health & Social Care Stephen O'Brien MP, and Lib Dem spokesperson Paul Burstow MP, were given the opportunity to respond to a selection of questions from dozens of carers across the UK, collected by The Trust.