Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support his Department is providing to young carers during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government has published guidance for both schools and local authorities on how best to support to families and protect vulnerable children during COVID-19. This is available on GOV.UK. In addition, local authority duties to assess the needs of young carers, under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, are unchanged. During the COVID-19 outbreak children’s social care services and local authorities should be maintaining their responsibilities under the Act to ensure young carers are identified and referred to appropriate support if needed.

The Government has also committed over £100 million to boost remote learning, including providing devices and internet access to vulnerable children who need it most, including young carers who have social workers. Schools continue to receive additional funding through the pupil premium – worth around £2.4 billion annually - to help them support their disadvantaged pupils. Local authorities have also been given over £3.2 billion of extra funding to help address the pressures faced in responding to COVID-19, including children’s social care.

We have published guidance for those who provide unpaid care to friends or family in relation to COVID-19 and are working closely with young carers and young carers organisations on additional guidance for young carers. this will include information on how and where they can get help and support. The guidance will be published shortly.