We are funding Carers Trust as part of our National Influencing Programme, supporting their project focusing on ensuring unpaid carers are a priority for local welfare assistance. Ramzi Suleiman, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Carers Trust, shares what the next government must do to ensure carers are getting the support they urgently need.
12 June 2024
We’re nearly halfway through the General Election campaign and poverty alleviation has barely featured. This is surprising and disappointing. Across the UK, 14 million people – one in five – live in poverty. Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away and the next government, whichever party forms it, must take decisive steps to help those at the sharp end.
There are at least 5 million carers in England and Wales. They save the state billions of pounds by providing care for people who could not manage without them. But they often provide this care at a great cost to their own health, finances, and life chances.
Even before the recent cost of living crisis, many carers were at breaking point financially. A Carers Trust survey found that one in seven carers (14%) had to use a food bank; almost two-thirds (63%) were worried about being able to afford energy bills; and 25% cut back on food. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that nearly one in three carers (28%) live in poverty.
While preventing carer poverty must be the long-term aim, we know carers are facing financial crises right now. They need urgent support on a day-to-day basis. Anything can tip them over a financial cliff. It might be an unexpected bill, or a broken washing machine that they can’t afford to fix.
Ramzi Suleiman, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Carers Trust
Further funding for the Household Support Fund (HSF) must be a priority for the next Government. It cannot be allowed to end in September.
Local welfare assistance schemes are vital in ensuring carers can get a small amount of financial support to help them through those times. They provide small grants, often no more than £300, to help individuals through an acute financial crisis.
The Welsh Government controls how local welfare assistance works in Wales. The Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) provides financial support to people in urgent need. The DAF has two elements: the Emergency Assistance Payment which helps people cover essential costs like food, gas, electricity, clothing; and the Individual Assistance Payment which supports independent living, providing items such as fridges, washing machines, and home furniture.
In England, the HSF was brought in by the UK Government in September 2021 to help families facing financial crisis. Local authorities have total discretion on how to use the money and who to prioritise.
Funding for the HSF was due to end in March 2024. Working in coalition with others, Carers Trust campaigned for the funding to be extended and, in the Spring Budget, the UK government announced a six-month extension. Carers Trust welcomed this reprieve but more needs to be done.
Beyond the HSF, the next Government needs to commit to funding local welfare assistance schemes more sustainably. Ahead of the Spring Budget, the Local Government Association surveyed its members and found 62% of councils would not be able to provide any additional funding for local welfare support if HSF ended.
But where councils are working closely with local carer organisations, the HSF has been a lifeline for carers.
To take just one example, one of the local carer organisations in the Carers Trust network recently provided vital help to a single dad who is cared for by his young son. His son was sleeping on a broken bed for six months leaving him unable to sleep and struggling with school. At the same time, the costs of their regular food shop had soared. This put huge financial strain on the family, who get by on the father’s pension and just a small amount of Tax Credit.
Through the HSF, the family were awarded £280 in food vouchers (£70 per week for four weeks) and were finally able to buy a new bed and mattress. Support organisation Carers Northumberland also secured funding from the council to buy new bedding.
The effects have been transformative for the young carer, and his experience is similar to that of tens of thousands of other carers across the country who have received similar grants. However, local authorities have made clear that without central funding, many will be forced into reducing the assistance they can offer the most financially vulnerable in our society.
In Wales, the DAF continues to provide support to those at the sharpest end of poverty but is experiencing significant demand. Unpaid carers in financial hardship can also access assistance locally, funded by Welsh Government, through the Carers Support Fund. This couples longer term support with short term relief.
The next government faces a choice. It can choose to fund local welfare assistance schemes (whether under the guise of the HSF or another name) or not. But if it doesn’t, the effects could be devastating.
Carers are often shut out from additional financial support. For example, people on Carer’s Allowance were not one of the groups eligible for support through the Government’s cost of living payments.
This must change. Carers should be recognised as individuals with their own needs. Many carers are extremely financially vulnerable. Both central and local governments must start recognising that and give carers the financial support they so desperately need.
Lloyds Bank Foundation is funding Carers Trust as part of our National Influencing Programme, supporting their project focusing on ensuring unpaid carers are a priority for local welfare assistance. Find out more about the work Carers Trust are doing by visiting their website.
