Lord Young of Cookham
Main Page: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)
The noble Lord, as always, goes right to the heart of the issue. I reassure him that, through the 10-year plan, all the issues that he has raised are recognised. Through all the aspects, enhancing the position of carers is paramount. It cannot be right to have the situation he outlined whereby the carer’s wishes, understanding and insights are not taken seriously. The golden thread running through all the planned improvements is that the rights of carers will be recognised. Through the My Carer app, for example, no medical professional can have any excuse for not recognising the vital role that they play.
Lord Young of Cookham (Con)
My Lords, there are over 1 million young carers in this country, many of whom are still at school. There are 15,000 school- children giving care for more than 50 hours a week, 3,000 of whom are aged between just five and nine. They are most at risk of missing school and being suspended, and at the moment, it takes three years on average before they are identified and given support. What can the Government do through primary care and children’s services to identify those children earlier and give them a better start in life?
Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)
The noble Lord’s point is well made. There is nothing more heartbreaking than when a school does not know that a child is a young carer and makes them stay for detention, for example, because they were late on account of their caring responsibilities. It cannot continue, and I am pleased to inform the House that this issue is being taken very seriously. It is crucial that young carers are known, but, most importantly, that all the relevant agencies work together at a local level to share their knowledge of the young person, very much along the lines of the family group conferencing model that is working so well in children’s social care. It is a huge issue. Many young carers, as we know, do not want to divulge that they are indeed carers because they are worried that it might result in the family being split up. There is a lot of work to do in raising confidence, but everyone working together is the way forward.