What is the Welsh Government currently doing to address the high poverty rate of unpaid carers?
I recognise and value the role that unpaid carers play in caring for their family and friends. Recent analysis by Carers UK and the University of Sheffield found unpaid carers provide care that would cost £10.6 billion per annum if this was provided by health and social care services.
I am committed to do all I can, within our powers and existing budgetary constraints, to provide support to unpaid carers. We provide support for low-income households to deliver targeted support including through our Discretionary Assistance Fund.
We will continue to do all we can to ensure people claim every pound of benefits and payments to which they are entitled. Our campaign on benefits take-up last financial year provided advice to almost 37,000 people and provided support for them to claim over £10.4m in additional income.
We recognise the important role employers play in supporting unpaid carers to work alongside their caring role. The UK Carer’s Leave Act 2023 came into force this April and brings in the right to one week’s unpaid leave per year for employees who are caring for a relative or dependant. We will follow with interest the impact of this legislation.
We provide funding to enable unpaid carers to receive specialist support to re-enter the paid workforce. We know unpaid carers have a range of skills that are transferrable to paid employment.
In addition, as a government we are providing funding for the Carers Support Fund which delivers £4.5 million over three years specifically to support unpaid carers on low incomes with small grants to buy essential items. The fund is administered on our behalf by Carers Trust Wales and carers can also access personalised financial advice, as an added value of the scheme.
I am very pleased to hear about the positive impact of the Short Breaks Fund for providing carers with an expanding range of opportunities to take a break from their caring role. The fund has given carers more of a voice, choice and control than traditional respite services.
Continued funding of our programmes from April 2025 is currently under review pending the outcome of the Welsh Government budget discussions for 2025/26. We will communicate further as soon as these discussions are completed.
Eligibility criteria for Carers Allowance, including the 21-hour study rule, is set by the UK Government as this is a reserved matter for the Department for Work and Pensions.