§ Mr. McWalterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a means of monitoring the quantity and quality of breaks for carers. [119423]
§ Dr. LadymanThe 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 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.