Carers Action Plan

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)]

I would have thought the opposite was true. The whole reason why the Government have agreed to the abolition of NHSE is to increase direct ministerial accountability within the Department of Health and Social Care, as previously mentioned in other answers—and, in this case, the DWP, DBIST and DfE.

[Baroness Keeley (Lab)]

My Lords, I tried a number of times in the other place to bring forward a Bill on the identification of carers, because GPs and other health professionals can be inconsistent in identifying them. As we have heard from the noble Lord, Lord Young, young carers are the most hidden group of carers. It is good to see that the Government’s first priority in the action plan is to improve identification and recognition of unpaid carers, but I urge my noble friend and Health Ministers to make urgent progress on this priority, because it is the vital first step in improving the support we give to unpaid carers.

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)]

My noble friend makes a very important point. “Recognise”, “refer” and “reach” are the three orders of priority, and “recognise” is obviously the first piece of the puzzle. Whatever your age and life stage, you can be referred to the appropriate support; then, “reach” is about enabling people with unpaid caring responsibilities to reach their potential, whether they wish to be in work or in education—whatever is appropriate for that person. As my noble friend knows, when you become a carer the rest of your life does not just stop overnight; often, these things are incremental. For many, what begins as helping a loved one out is suddenly hours and hours a week of providing unpaid care.