Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in schools in (a) the North East of England and (b) England are young carers.

The information requested is not held centrally on the number of pupils who are young carers.

However, according to the 2011 Census, there are almost 166,000 young carers aged 5 to 17 in England, although estimates from other studies using different methodologies or question wording to identify carers are much higher.

In January 2017 the Department for Education (DfE) published the omnibus survey report ‘The lives of young carers in England’ available on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-lives-of-young-carers-in-england. This was a significant piece of research carried out by the department in partnership with Loughborough University looking to improve understanding of the numbers and needs of young carers and their families.

The government is committed to supporting young carers - to improve their health and wellbeing, and to protect them from excessive or inappropriate caring responsibilities that can impact on their education. That is why earlier this year, we launched the cross-government 'Carers Action Plan': https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/713781/carers-action-plan-2018-2020.pdf. This is a two-year programme of tailored work to support unpaid carers of all ages, including specifically to support young carers. This includes plans to improve: identification of young carers; educational opportunities and outcomes; access to support and services; and transition for young adult carers. In delivering on these commitments, together with the Department for Health and Social Care, the DfE is currently inviting bids to undertake a review of best practice in identifying young carers.

This action builds on significant changes to the law through the Children and Families Act 2014, to improve how young carers and their families are identified and supported.