Carers over 80: Support

Debate between Lord Prior of Brampton and Baroness Bakewell

Monday 13th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. There are many tens of thousands of children who have very substantial caring responsibilities for their parents or grandparents. The impact on their education and future careers is certainly something that the strategy will want to take into account. Of course, the Children and Families Act sets out the rights of children. We need to assess them very carefully in the forthcoming strategy.

[Baroness Bakewell (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister tell us how much the group of people who are carers over 80 is saving the economy by offering their services?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I cannot give a specific figure for those over 80 but I think that, in so far as you can monetise something like this, the total amount for all unpaid carers is estimated to be around £1.3 billion a year.

National Living Wage: Social Care

Debate between Lord Prior of Brampton and Baroness Bakewell

Thursday 5th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the Government are putting £10 billion of new money into the NHS over the five-year period. Clearly, if there is a crisis in social care, that will have a direct knock-on effect on the NHS. We fully recognise that. The CQC has an obligation to keep a very close eye on this and to produce early warnings if a major, hard-to-replace provider looks as if it is getting into financial difficulty. It is an area that we are acutely conscious of and are keeping a very close eye on.

[Baroness Bakewell (Lab)]

My Lords, when these situations have arisen before and there has been a crisis with care homes, there has been a lack of response which has resulted in old and frail people being virtually turned out of the door. This is a crisis and there is going to be a crash—the care sector has warned us that it is coming. The Government have made concessions—the precept and so on—but will they put contingency plans in place so that when the crisis actually hits, old and vulnerable people are not suddenly thrust into a crisis that they do not know how to deal with?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Our whole focus must be on the residents of these homes rather than the owners. There are a number of very highly leveraged providers in this sector, which have high levels of debt—often very expensive debt—for historical reasons. The CQC is keeping a very close watch on them. When there are early-warning signs of difficulties, the CQC and the local authorities will put in place alternative plans.