Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to unpaid carers.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.

The Health and Care Act 2022 includes provisions for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess the performance of local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties, as set out under the Care Act 2014. The CQC have been working with local Government, the care sector and people with care and support needs to develop a framework for these assessments including how to consider local authorities responsibilities to unpaid carers.