§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consideration they have given to Mencap's recent report on family carers, entitled Breaking Point; and whether they will be taking any action on its findings. [HL3656]
§ Lord WarnerWe appreciate the real contribution carers make in looking after their disabled relatives. We are working to make sure that carers have the information and help they need to support them in their caring role. The Mencap report identifies some areas of particular concern to carers and is a helpful contribution to the work we are already taking forward.
The Learning Disability Task Force, which monitors the implementation of the White Paper Valuing People: A New strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century (Cm 5086), published in March 2001, will be looking in detail at issues affecting family carers at its meeting in September. The Valuing People Support Team, which offers advice and support to Learning Disability Partnership Boards, has work around family carers issues as a priority for 2003. The Learning Disability Helpline, funded jointly by Mencap and the Department of Health, offers advice and information on a wide range of learning disability issues and is already well used by family carers.
The carers grant, worth £100 million this year, provides money for local councils to provide short breaks for carers to enable them to continue in their caring role. Information on the number of breaks for carers is collected annually.
To support provision of good quality carers services the Department of Health published Quality Standards for Local Carer Support Services in February 2000. Monitoring the quality of services for carers is undertaken as part of the Social Service Inspectorate performance assessment function.