Carers
7th February 2011
Dr Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on the provision of carers' services in England; and if he will make a statement.
Paul Burstow: Ministers have had internal discussions, including the Inter-Ministerial Group in July 2010, about future support for carers in addition to meetings with voluntary and statutory sector organisations, and carers themselves. These included: a visit to BT to discuss flexible working in the workplace in August 2010; a visit to a Princess Royal Trust for Carers Centre in the North West in November 2010; a speech and question and answer at the Carers UK National Carers Summit in November 2010; and attendance at the Social Care Reference Group in December 2010, with the next meeting planned for March 2011.
The Standing Commission on Carers (SCOC) is an independent advisory body, which meets quarterly, and provides expert advice to Ministers and the Carers Strategy Cross-Government Programme Board on improving support for carers and on the longer-term strategic challenges. SCOC's membership reflects a broad range of interests and expertise from across the public, professional and voluntary sectors. The Minister plans to attend the next SCOC meeting in March 2011.
In respect of the call for views leading to the development of "Recognised, valued and supported: Next steps for the Carers Strategy", we received responses from 764 individuals and organisations. We took account of these responses when we were drafting the new strategy and deciding on our priorities for carers over the next four years.
