Unpaid Carers: Inequalities

Stephen Kinnock Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this vital debate. I pay tribute to her for her career-long dedication to adult social care and so many of the issues we are debating today. I also pay tribute to all the powerful and moving contributions we have heard today, many about personal experience, engagement with constituents and the stories we hear every day about the pivotal role that unpaid carers play in our care system, which are truly inspiring and uplifting.

Every day, unpaid carers step up to sustain the health and wellbeing of millions of people across our country. Every day, they step up quietly and without expectation to support loved ones, neighbours and friends. I offer my heartfelt thanks, particularly on Carers Rights Day: thank you for the compassion, the commitment and the resilience you show.

As Minister for Care, it has been my priority to listen directly to unpaid carers through discussions with carers of all ages, including during Carers Week. I have heard at first hand the realities of balancing care, work, education and personal wellbeing. Those conversations have been moving, honest and often humbling. They have reinforced just how essential it is that we continue to recognise and support the people who provide so much care to so many, and who hold so much of our health and care system together.

As I said at the Carers UK “State of Caring” conference earlier this year, we have made genuine progress over the last three decades. The profile of the role of unpaid carers has undoubtedly grown, and awareness of their contribution is undoubtedly greater. Despite that, true equality of opportunity remains out of reach for far too many. My ambition is clear: that carers who want to work can do so without being penalised; that young carers can learn, develop and dream, just like their peers; and that caring must not lead to long-term damage to a person’s health, wealth or wellbeing.

The data shows the scale of the challenge: unpaid carers are 16% more likely to have multiple long-term health conditions, and providing just 10 hours of care a week can significantly reduce someone’s likelihood of being employed and increase their risk of loneliness. These pressures compound existing inequalities linked to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or age. We must continue to shine a light on these disparities, listen to carers’ voices and design support that genuinely helps them to thrive.

The Government remain committed to ensuring that unpaid carers receive the right support at the right time in the right way. Under our 10-year health plan, unpaid carers will be recognised as partners in preparing personalised care and support plans. Their practical knowledge and experience will help to shape more responsive and realistic plans for the people they support.

Early identification remains key. Too many carers still go unnoticed and unsupported. We will increase the information captured across the health and care system, enabling earlier intervention and more tailored help. We will also introduce a dedicated “My Carer” section in the NHS app, which will allow carers to book appointments, access information and communicate more effectively with clinical teams. That will not only support carers but streamline interactions across the system.

Our shift towards a neighbourhood health service will increase the integration of health and care services, and it will bring multidisciplinary teams—GPs, nurses, social care professionals, pharmacists and others—closer to people’s homes. Working alongside unpaid carers, these teams will be better placed to deliver joined-up, community-centred support, focused on the health and care that people really need.

We know that caring can have a profound impact on mental health. That is why we are expanding access to talking therapies and digital tools, and piloting neighbourhood mental health centres, offering round-the-clock support for people with more severe needs.

[Richard Foord]

Can I ask the Minister what definition of neighbourhood he is using, and does it recognise communities such as market towns?

[Stephen Kinnock]

As a ballpark figure, we are looking at 50,000 residents, but we will be open to developing multi-neighbourhood infrastructure that would cover closer to something like 250,000 residents. It will depend, to some extent, on how it works in the 43 pilot sites in our neighbourhood health implementation plan. We do not want to have too many top-down diktats like the disastrous 2012 Lansley reforms; this is much more about a bottom-up, organic approach to developing a neighbourhood health service. Approximately 50,000 residents will be the starting point.

[Jim Shannon]

What the Minister is referring to is very positive; as always, I have a quick ask. The policy he is outlining seems very plausible and workable, so can I ask him to share those thoughts with the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt? I think that the two Ministers are in regular contact, so it could be done through that.

[Stephen Kinnock]

I will be very happy to do that. We have launched the 43 sites, so I would be happy to share the documentation on how we launched them and the terms of reference. [Interruption.] I can see the representative from my private office is taking notes.

[Daniel Francis]

I do not expect an answer now, but can I also ask the Minister to take away a point about the complexity of some of these disabilities? Sometimes people are under several different consultants in several different hospitals, perhaps for a neurological condition, for their sight, for epilepsy and so on. I am thinking about both the complexity of the different apps, and different parts of apps, used by different NHS trusts and hospitals, and the complexity of the distances travelled —it is the carer who manages all those aspects. How can we take that away and support the carer in managing the care of the person for whom they are caring?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend’s points; I think that neighbourhood health, as a strategy, addresses his points about both the proximity and complexity. By definition, through shifting from hospital to community, we are addressing the proximity point. The fact that neighbourhood health will be based on multidisciplinary teams creates the idea of a one-stop shop for the patient, where their complex needs are addressed in one place.

To ensure that local areas can meet their duties under the Care Act, the 2025 spending review allows for an increase of more than £4 billion in additional funding for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26, to support the sector in making improvements. The Health and Care Act 2022 strengthened expectations around identifying and involving carers and ensuring that services are shaped by carer feedback.

NHS England is helping local systems to adopt best practice through co-produced tools, case studies and events such as Carers Week and the Commitment to Carers conference. Initiatives such as GP quality markers for carers, carer passports and digital proxy access are already making a real difference and increasing the number of carers who are identified in the NHS.

Balancing paid work and caring responsibilities remains a significant challenge, and too many carers risk financial hardship as a result. That should never be the case. Supporting carers to remain in or return to work is central to our plan for a modern, inclusive labour market. Employers benefit enormously from the skills, dedication and experience that carers bring. That is why in April we increased the carer’s allowance earnings limit to £196 a week—the largest rise since its inception in the 1970s—meaning that carers can now earn up to £10,000 a year without losing the allowance.

The Carer’s Leave Act, which came into force in April 2024, gives employees one week of unpaid leave each year to help to manage planned caring commitments. We are now reviewing how the Act is working in practice, listening to carers and to employers of all sizes. That includes exploring the potential benefits and implications of introducing paid carer’s leave. To ensure transparency, and as hon. Members have noted, the Department for Business and Trade yesterday published the terms of reference for that review and we will hold a public consultation in 2026 on employment rights for people balancing work and care.

Young carers make an extraordinary contribution, often taking on responsibilities far beyond their years. Our ambition is that every young carer should receive the support that they need to succeed at school and beyond. This autumn, we published key stages 2 and 4 attainment data for young carers for the first time—an important step in understanding and addressing the educational disadvantage that they face. Reforms across education and children’s social care will strengthen identification and support. Ofsted’s new inspection framework, introduced on 10 November, explicitly references young carers in the expected standards for inclusion, safeguarding and personal development.

Local authorities must identify young carers who may need support and assess their needs when requested. We strongly support the “No Wrong Doors for Young Carers” memorandum of understanding that promotes collaboration across children’s and adults’ services, health partners and schools. I encourage all local authorities to adopt it.

NHS England is supporting the identification of young carers through GP guidance and improved data sharing. It is also leading a cross-Government project, co-produced with young carers and voluntary, community and social enterprise partners, to support identification, strengthen support pathways and join up services across education, health and local organisations. Engagement workshops have already helped to shape the next young carers summit, in early 2026.

Our 10-year plan sets out strong foundations for change, and we are now fully focused on delivery. Baroness Casey’s independent commission will shape the cross-party and national consensus around longer-term reforms, including proposals for a national care service. As noted by the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew), however, supporting unpaid carers requires commitment across Government. That is why I chair a ministerial working group, working closely with my counterparts at the DWP, the DBT and the Department for Education, to ensure that our policies reflect the realities of caring.

My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley and others asked about the Government’s response to the Sayce review. I can confirm that we will publish that response this year and I am receiving regular updates from DWP colleagues on that matter. Additionally, our research arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is evaluating local carer support programmes to identify what works and where improvements are needed.

As we look to the future, prevention must sit at the heart of our approach. Too many carers reach crisis point before they receive help. That not only places huge strain on families, but leads to avoidable pressure on hospitals, primary care and social services. By intervening earlier—through better identification in primary care, strengthened community networks and improved signposting —we can ensure that carers receive the right support before challenges escalate.

[Anna Dixon]

I thank the Minister for his response. Given what we know about carer burnout and the need for short breaks, and given the data that suggests local authority funding cuts have resulted in less support being available, will there be work between the NHS—with its increased budget—and local authorities to look at how we can get back to having more breaks for carers?

[Stephen Kinnock]

There is a consistent message that comes through in my conversations with carers about the importance of respite and regular breaks. We know that they are not a luxury. When carers reach exhaustion, the wellbeing of the carer and the person they support is compromised. We are working with local authorities and integrated care boards to ensure that they meet their statutory duty for carers’ breaks and that provision is transparent, fair and personalised. I absolutely take my hon. Friend’s point: that duty is clear, written down and statutory; the question is about making it happen in practice. We must monitor that closely.

Addressing the inequalities faced by unpaid carers requires a cultural shift as much as a policy one. We must build a society that values care, where caring is recognised as a shared responsibility rather than a private burden, and where employers, communities and public services all play their part. Changing culture takes time, but we have already seen encouraging progress. Businesses are increasingly recognising the value of carer-friendly workplaces. Schools are becoming more aware of the pressures faced by young carers. Health professionals are finding new ways to involve carers as genuine partners. These changes—these shifts—matter, as they represent the foundations of a more compassionate and inclusive society.

As we continue this vital work, I remain committed to ensuring that the voices of carers young and old inform every stage of policy development. It is only by listening attentively, engaging meaningfully and responding boldly that we can continue to deliver the change that carers rightly expect. I hope that today’s debate has given everyone a sense of what the Government are working on and, once again, I pay tribute to all hon. Members who have spoken.