Written evidence submitted by Carers UK [SOC 161]

Written evidence submitted by Carers UK [SOC 161] About Carers UK Carers UK is a membership charity of carers we work to represent and support the 6.5 million people in the UK who provide unpaid care for ill, older or disabled family members or friends. The evidence provided by Carers UK comes directly from carers own experiences of the health and care system, including their experience at work and how it is impacted by social care changes. We also look at other external sources of key evidence. Summary Carers play a vital role providing care worth 132bn each year 1, but they cannot increasingly prop up a social care system in crisis as this brings with it significant costs in health, well-being and employment. The new cross-government Carers Strategy, currently in development, is recognition of the need to better support carers and may deliver some solutions for support, but wider support for social care is also needed. Demand for care is rising, yet fewer people are receiving services. Funding for social care remains insufficient, despite the introduction of additional funding mechanisms such as the 2% precept. A shortfall of 1.1bn remains to simply maintain care levels at the 2014/15 level 2. The rationing of social care services due to funding cuts is resulting in extreme and unsustainable pressure being placed on carers, who are providing more care, for more hours than ever before. Since 2001, the growth in the number of carers has outstripped population growth by 16.5% and the number of people providing 20-49 hours of care a week has increased by 43% 3. Many carers are caring without the support they need or are seeing reductions in the amount of support provided. 1 in 5 carers who are providing 50 hours or more of care each week are receiving no practical support with their caring role 4. The impact of providing care without the right support is vast, affecting carers health, finances and ability to have a life outside caring, as well as their ability to continue caring. 1 Carers UK (2015) Valuing Carers 2015 2 ADASS (2016) Budget Survey 3 Carers UK (2015) Valuing Carers 2015 4 Carers UK (2016) State of Caring 2016

The social care crisis is also impacting on the sustainability of the NHS and care services. Several key health professionals have suggested that part of the reason for the rise in older people with complex needs in A&E is due to carer burnout/carers not being able to cope. Employers are increasingly recognising those in their workforce are being put under increasing pressure because of juggling work and care. This has an impact not only on businesses, but our economy as a whole. It is estimated that 5.3bn has been wiped from the economy in lost earnings due to people who ve dropped out of the workforce to take on caring responsibilities for older or disabled loved ones 5, often due to the difficulty of finding high quality care services. Pressure of budgets and costs seems to contribute to this lower quality. Of carers taking part in our research who have given up work or reduced their working hours to care, 46% said that one of the reasons was a problem with care services 6. Implementation of the Care Act 2014 and Children and Families Act 2014 in England is being undermined by a lack of funding for local authority social care departments. Carers UK s own research published in May 2016 looking at over 3,000 carers experiences found carers are waiting a significant amount of time for assessments that were often not fit for purpose: 1 in 3 carers (29%) who have had a carer s assessment had to wait six months or longer for it and a minority (35%) felt that the assessment told them how to get all the information and advice they needed 7. Some local authorities are starting to look at how they care reach carers earlier in their caring journey and provide digital solutions to some key challenges faced by carers providing solutions at scale, that carers say they need. We ve set out examples of how Carers UK is working with local authorities to provide these solutions. Key Recommendations Government must urgently increase overall social care funding, delivering a sustainable and fair settlement for all geographic areas that ensures people with care and support needs and receive the vital services they need. Bring forward the extra funding for the Better Care Fund currently due to be introduced in 2017/18. Prioritise the development of the new cross-government Carers Strategy, ensuring implementation is supported by sufficient funding. 5 http://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-press/archive/care-in-crisis-more-than-53-billion-wiped-from-the-economy/ 6 Carers UK (2014) Quality of care and carers 7 Carers UK (2016) State of Caring 2016

Maintain Attendance Allowance as nationally administered universal benefit, recognising it is an efficient, well targeted and reduces pressure on social care services. Deliver extra funding to support the implementation of the new rights for carers secured in the Care Act 2014. Alongside this, Government must review the implementation of the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to carers assessments and support following assessments. A new duty on the NHS to put in place policies to identify carers and to promote their health and well-being helping to build a carer friendly NHS. Local Authorities must ensure they meet market shaping duties set out in the Care Act, consulting with carers to ensure sufficiency and diversity of high quality care services. Local authorities must ensure that a range of housing products are developed and built in their area, including sufficient provision of specialist homes. Care and support planning and housing planning needs to be done locally in an integrated way. Local government should embed the use of technology including digital information and health and care technologies - in implementation of duties on information and advice, prevention and wellbeing under the Care Act. Carers and the social care system Publicly funded care provided by local authorities comprises a minority of the total care provided in the UK. The majority of care and support is provided, unpaid, by family and friends and is worth a staggering 132 billion a year 8. Yet for carers, getting the right support from the social care system has a profound impact on their ability to continue providing care. The local authority social care system provides the following main functions for carers: Personal care and practical support for the cared for person, such as funding for home care workers or day centres Equipment and home adaptations to make caring easier Residential care, for example providing a period of respite care Information and advisory services Provision of Carer s Assessments Carers receive a variety of support from the social care system, although some is paid for privately. Carers UK s State of Caring 2016 survey is the largest annual survey of carers 8 Carers UK (2015) Valuing Carers 2015

experiences in the UK. Almost half of carers (48%) taking part in our State of Caring survey 2016 9, have practical support in the form of equipment in the home of the person they care for, such as hoists, grab rails or easy grip handles. Nearly a quarter (24%) use technology to help their caring role and 29% have practical support from care workers. Almost 1 in 5 carers (18%) have practical support in the form of a break from caring for themselves. For those caring for someone with a learning disability, day centres continue to be an important source of support with 1 in 5 carers (19%) looking after someone with a learning disability using a day centre. Social Care Funding Increasing demand Carers UK has consistently argued for a sustainable long-term settlement for social care. However successive Governments have failed to fund the system to keep up with demand. With our ageing population and people living longer with long term conditions there is an increasing demand for care and support. Between 2001 and 2015, the number of people aged 85 and over increased by over 366,200 (+38%) and the number of people with a limiting longterm illness increased by 1.4 million 10. Despite rising demand, fewer people are receiving support. Today, 25 per cent fewer older people are receiving social care support than five years ago 11. LSE research shows that 500,000 people who would have had access to social care in 2009 are no longer entitled to it 12. Demand is only set to increase. By 2017, we will have reached a tipping point in care where the demand from older people needing care will outstrip family members able to meet that need. This care gap is expected to increase rapidly over the next two decades 13. This has significant implications for older people and increases the risk that carers will give up employment to provide care a scenario that is incompatible with the Fuller Working Lives strategy. Recent Funding Announcements Whilst we welcomed the Government s announcement of a social care precept and extra investment in the Better Care Fund, it is clear that this is not sufficient to meet the growing demand. Carers UK has the following significant concerns: Sufficiency of investment. The underfunding of social care services is well documented. 5.5 billion has been taken out of social care budgets in the last 6 9 Carers UK( 2016) State of Caring Survey 2016 10 Carers UK (2015) Valuing Carers 2015 11 Kings Fund and Nuffield Trust (2016), www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2016/07/taking-control-our-socialcare-system 40 Census 201 12 (Personal Social Services Research Unit (2013) Changes in the patterns of social care provision in England: 2005/6 to 2012/13, London: London School of Economics. Available from http://www.pssru.ac.uk/archive/pdf/dp2867.pdf 13 Linda Pickard (2013) A growing care gap? The supply of unpaid care for older people by their adult children in England to 2032 is published in Ageing and Society.

years 14. The most recent ADASS Budget survey outlines the unprecedented pressure on adult social care departments; with an extra 1.1 billion investment needed to simply maintain care provision at the same level as last year 15. Research from the Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation and the Kings Fund demonstrates even if every council were to utilise the precept, the estimated funding gap, taking into account the impact of the Living Wage, will be between 2.8 billion and 3.5 billion in 2019/20 16. ADASS states that the social care precept this year raises less than two-thirds of the calculated costs of the National Living Wage 17. This significant and sustained underfunding is resulting in a loss of independence and quality of life for older and disabled people, and reductions in carer support, undermining the positive changes for carers introduced in the Care Act 2014. Regional variation and delay in funding ADASS have already reported the inequality in funding for local authorities collecting the 2% precept, stating it raises much more in some areas than others and raises least in areas with the greatest need for social care 18. While the Government have said the additional funding from the Better Care Fund will be used to top up funding for local authorities that will raise less from the precept, this extra funding will not be released 2017/18 when it will deliver only 105 million 19. The back loading of this money has the potential to create a postcode lottery of support and is particularly concerning given the immediate investment needed to simply maintain current levels of provision. Overall spending on social care by local authorities In the context of unprecedented reductions in local authority budgets, Carers UK is concerned that, while money raised through the precept is ring-fenced, future local authority funding currently allocated to social care may be reduced in the knowledge that additional funding will be raised through the precept. It is vital that a mechanism is introduced to ensure the precept increases local authority social care budgets. Local Government Finance Settlement: Proposal to devolve Attendance Allowance. Currently administered by the DWP, the potential devolution of Attendance Allowance to local authorities must not be seen as an alternative channel for financing social care. Attendance Allowance is a vital benefit that helps 1.4 million severely disabled people aged 65 or over with the extra costs of long-term 14 King s Fund (2016), www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2016/07/taking-control-our-social-care-system 15 ADASS (2016) Budget Survey 16 Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation and the Kings Fund, The Spending Review: what does it mean for health and social care?, December 2015. Available from: http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/sites/files/nuffield/publication/spending-review-nuffield-health-kings-fund-december- 2015.pdf 17 ADASS (2016) Budget Survey 18 ADASS (2016) Budget Survey 19 www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/finance/-/journal_content/56/10180/7616827/news

illness or disability. It is often used to prevent care needs developing, allowing recipients to purchase practical help around the home. Moving the funding from supporting one set of people (Attendance Allowance recipients) to another set of people (social care recipients) is deeply short-sighted given the preventative nature of the benefit. Any reduction in availability will only serve to increase the pressure on social care services in the future. The Local Government Association has also warned that councils do not want responsibility for administering the Attendance Allowance benefit for older people which would lead to significant cost pressures 13. Government must Maintain Attendance Allowance as nationally administered universal benefit, recognising it is an efficient, well targeted and reduces pressure on social care services. For further information on the possible devolution of attendance Allowance please see our full briefing: http://www.carersuk.org/for-professionals/policy/policylibrary/potential-devolution-of-attendance-allowance-impact-on-carers Impact of social care underfunding Impact on carers More families caring round the clock Social care services have failed to keep pace with the increasing demands of an ageing population. Analysis by Carers UK demonstrates that between 2010-11 and 2013-14, less homecare support was provided by local authorities to people with care needs in England, with number of people being supported dropping by 13% 20. The drop in service provision context of increasing need is having a profound impact on families who are stepping in to provide more care than ever before. In the UK, the provision of unpaid care has increased by 16.5% vastly outstripping the growth of the general population during this same period (6.2%). Since 2001, the number of people providing 20-49 hours of care a week has increased by 43%, with those caring for fifty or more hours per week increasing by a third 21. Evidence from Carers UK State of Caring Survey 2016 demonstrates many carers are caring without the support they need or are seeing reductions in the amount of support 20 Carers UK (2015) Valuing Carers 2015 21 Carers UK (2015) Valuing Carers 2015

provided. We are becoming increasingly concerned at this direction and the impact on carers: 1 in 5 carers (20%) who are providing 50 hours or more of care each week are receiving no practical support with their caring role. A third (34%) of respondents to our survey said that they or the person they care for has experienced a change in the amount of care and support services that they receive. More than half of those reporting a change (59%) said the amount of care and support they receive had been reduced because of cost or availability of services. This includes 12% who have cut down on the amount of care and support they get because the cost has increased or their personal budget no longer covers it, and 13% said that the care or support service was closed and no replacement was offered. The social worker who assessed my wife said all direct payments in the borough were being reduced. We discussed the needs and were advised we would be informed of any change. Without warning or notification the budget was cut by 30% immediately. Respondent to State of Caring Survey 2016 This is not an isolated question in our research, but a question repeated year on year, showing year on year increases to the costs of services, and cuts to services or no service being offered despite a clear need. Alongside evidence from carers, there is mounting wider evidence that cuts to social care budgets are the impacting on the ability of councils to meet their statutory care and support duties: The ADASS survey of Directors of Social Services, completed by 100% of councils in England, reports that least 24% of this year s savings will come from cutting services or reducing the personal budgets of people who receive care and support 22. The Health Select Committee analysed the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review on Health and Social Care. The report concluded, Historical cuts to social care funding have now exhausted the capacity for significant further efficiencies in this area. Increasing numbers of people with genuine social care needs are no longer receiving the care they need because of a lack of resource 23. There is evidence that local authorities are imposing blanket reductions on care provision due to funding pressures. A recent Local Government Ombudsman investigation found that Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council had applied a 22 ADASS (2016) Budget survey 23 Health Select Committee (2016) Impact of the Spending Review on health and social care

blanket restriction of four weeks per year respite care, regardless of the individual needs of carers in its area. The LGO attributed the reduction to budget limitations 24. Impact on carers physical and mental health The increase in the numbers of people providing care and the hours of care provided, is coming at a huge personal cost to those who are not well supported. Insufficient support from health and social care services is leaving carers isolated, burnt-out and unable to look after their own health. As well as physical injury and mental ill-health as a result of intensive caring, carers are also less likely to be able to attend routine public health related appointments or follow-through with key health interventions. According to the 2011 Census, carers are twice as likely as non-carers to be in bad health where they are providing 50 hours or more a week. It is important to consider the changing demographic make-up of carers. There has been a surge in the number of older carers, an increase of 128% in the last 10 years 25. The increasing number of older carers, caring for longer, brings its own health impacts with many having their own health conditions to also manage. A lack of care and support services and the consequent increase in the amount of unpaid care being provided is also having a very damaging impact on the emotional resilience and relationships of carers. Carers who have reached breaking point where they felt unable to continue with their caring role are twice as likely to say that they are socially isolated because they are unable to leave the house and are also more likely to have experienced depression as a result of caring 26. Impact on carers ability to access suitable housing With an increase in the amount of care being provided and a shift from hospital to community care, the availability of suitable and affordable housing is vital to the health and wellbeing of carers and their ability to provide safe and effective care. Yet, a lack of investment in social care provision and the failure of the UK s housing stock to adapt to the changing demands of an ageing population are making it more difficult for carers to manage at home. Currently, 95% of homes lack basic accessibility features 27. The speedy installation of home adaptations, such as stair lifts, grab rails or a downstairs bathroom can make a huge difference to carers and their families. Home adaptations are fundamental to preventing care needs increasing, promoting independence and giving disabled people and their carers the support to live well. 24 http://www.lgo.org.uk/information-centre/news/2016/jul/care-should-be-based-on-assessed-need-says-lgo 25 Carers UK (2015) Caring into Later Life 26 Carers UK (2015) Alone and Caring 27 Age UK (2015) Agenda for Later Life

Despite this almost 1 in 5 (18%) carers responding to Carers UK State of Caring survey are waiting for adaptations to be made to their home. While home adaptations are funded via a variety of sources, delays in adaptions being carried out are often due to long waiting times for an Occupational Therapist (OT) to undertake an assessment, funded through stretched local authority social care budgets..recommendations: Government must urgently increase overall social care funding, delivering a sustainable and fair settlement for all geographic areas that ensures people with care and support needs and receive the vital services they need. Bring forward the extra funding for the Better Care Fund currently due to be introduced in 2017/18. Prioritise the development of the new cross Government Carers Strategy, ensuring implementation is supported by sufficient funding Local authorities must ensure that a range of housing products are developed and built in their area, including sufficient provision of specialist homes. Care and support planning and housing planning needs to be done locally in an integrated way. Impact on the implementation of the Care Act Under the Care Act 2014, all carers have the right to a timely assessment of their needs. Yet, carers experiences from Carers UK s State of Caring Survey 2016 show that implementation of the Care Act 2014 and Children and Families Act 2014 in England is being undermined by a lack of funding for local authority social care departments. Carers facing long delays in receiving a carer s assessment: 1 in 3 carers (29%) who reported having an assessment in the past year had to wait six months or longer for it. Over a third of carers (39%) looking after someone at the end of their life had to wait six months or more for an assessment which will be too late for many. There are variations in waiting times between different groups of carers with older carers being more likely to receive an assessment within six months than those caring for someone with a mental health condition. Almost one-quarter of carers (22%) had to request an assessment for themselves over the last year instead of having one offered to them. Those who request an assessment rather than being offered one are typically waiting longer

This is particularly noticeable for parents of children under 18 who were much more likely to have requested rather than been offered an assessment. Of carers supporting a disabled child who requested an assessment 48% have waited or are waiting for more than six months. Carers assessments are not looking at all aspects of wellbeing: Of carers who received an assessment in the past year: 2 in 3 (68%) felt their need to have regular breaks from caring was either not considered or not thoroughly considered Only 1 in 3 (35%) felt that support to look after their own health was thoroughly considered 3 in 4 working age carers (74%) did not feel that the support needed to juggle care with work was sufficiently considered Carers access to information and advice Under the Care Act local authorities have a duty to provide information and advice services to those with care and support needs and support for carers. Guidance states that local authorities must take an active role in providing this information to affected populations; however our evidence shows that too many carers are not getting the information they need. Of carers who received an assessment in the past year: Only a minority (35%) were told how to get all the information and advice about their caring role they felt they needed. 1 in 5 (21%) of carers said they received little or no helpful information or advice, and felt they didn t know where to go for support with caring 28. Evidence local authorities are struggling to meet their new duties under the Care Act is also provided by ADASS who report only 1 in 3 (36%) Directors of Social Services are fully confident of being able to deliver all of their statutory duties under the Care Act in 2016 this year, falling to just 8% who think they can do so next year 29. Official statistics also show a downward trend in the number of carers receiving support, although data collection changes mean that it is difficult to measure year on year. In 2012-13 the number of carers receiving services from a local authority was 354,000 30. In 2014-15 the number of carers receiving direct support from a local authority was 334,000 31. Positives from the Care Act 2014 and innovation There are also examples reported by carers where they ve had their needs assessed and this has led to better support and outcomes. Carer, Norman Phillips from Hertfordshire describes 28 Carers UK (2016) State of Caring 2016 29 ADASS (2016) Budget Survey 2016 30 http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/pub13148/comm-care-stat-act-eng-2012-13-fin-rep.pdf 31 http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/pub18663/comm-care-stat-act-eng-2014-15-rep.pdf

some of the cultural changes where he feels he now has a break which is right for him and his wife. Frieda, a carer for several decades for her adult son with complex disabilities, talks about how her health and well-being were properly considered since the Care Act was implemented. In the run-up to implementation, Carers UK asked local authorities about whether the Care Act was revitalising any new work around technology, focussing on carers and employment and working jointly with health. Most encouragingly, technology featured quite highly with authorities looking to review the advice and information offered locally as well as look at offering a greater range of technological solutions. Further evidence is available here: http://www.carersuk.org/for-professionals/policy/policy-library/care-act-2014-and-carersopportunities-for-change Recommendation: Government must deliver extra funding to support the implementation of the new rights for carers secured in the Care Act 2014. Alongside this, Government must review of the implementation of the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to carers assessments and support following assessments. Impact on the sustainability of the NHS NHS Poor coordination between the NHS and social care and chronic underfunding of social care will impact on the sustainability of the NHS and its ability to adapt to the needs of an ageing society with complex long-term conditions. Delays in securing social care services, and the desire to free hospital beds, can mean that extra pressure is put onto families at the point of discharge. Evidence shows that of carers who have recent experience of hospital discharge, a quarter (25%) report that they were not consulted about the process. Significantly, nearly 6 in 10 carers (57%) said that they did not feel that they had a choice about providing care to the person following their discharge from hospital 32. If a carer is unprepared or simply unable to care for their loved one when they are discharged, and no support is put in place, then families can find it difficult to cope. This not only has a huge impact on the individual needing care but cause significant cost the NHS, as re-admission is more likely. Many carers also describe instances where a lack of support from social care and community health services meant the person they cared for had to remain in hospital longer than necessary to wait for support at home to be put in place. Analysis from the Kings Fund shows that nearly a 32 Carers UK (2016) State of Caring 2016

third of delayed discharges last year were caused by problems accessing social care services an increase of 21 per cent from the year before 33. The deterioration of carers own health, due to a lack of social care support, also puts pressure on the NHS. Lack of replacement care means carers find it difficult to find time to attend their own medical appointments, meaning health conditions escalate. According to the 2011 Census are twice as likely as non-carers to be in bad health where they are providing 50 hours or more a week. Recommendation: A new duty on the NHS to put in place policies to identify carers and to promote their health and well-being helping to build a carer friendly NHS. Impact on the economy and on carers employment Underfunding of social care services presents risks for the wider economy. 1 in 9 people in the workforce combine caring with paid work. The availability, affordability, reliability and quality of replacement care services has a significant impact on carers ability to juggle work and caring responsibilities. Carers need to know that their parent, child or partner is in good hands when they are at work. Yet evidence shows cuts to social care funding are impacting the quality of services provided. The ADASS Budget survey states 82% of Directors of Social Services report that more providers already face quality challenges as a result of the cost savings being made 34. The CQC report on The State of Health and Adult Social Care in England 35 shows that 41% of care providers were rated as inadequate or requires improvement, noting the reduction in funding for adult social care as a key factor placing adult social care under pressure. In addition, the Local Government Ombudsman has reported a steep increase (29%) in the number of complaints and enquiries received about councils provision of home care. A high number of these complains (67%) were upheld 36. Of those carers we surveyed who had given up work or retired early to care the majority of carers replying to our survey (62%) said it was the stress of juggling everything that meant they gave up work but over a third (35%) said that the care services they needed to continue to work and care were not suitable or were too expensive 37. 33 Kings Fund Quarterly Monitoring update 17, October 2015, Figures for Aug 2015 http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/press/press-releases/social-care-budget-cuts-damaging-nhs-latest-quarterly-monitoringreport-finds 34 ADASS (2016) Budget Survey 35 http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20151221_cqc_state_of_care_report_web_accessible.pdf 36 Local Government Ombudsman (2016) Review of Local Government Complaints 2015-16 37 Carers UK (2014) State of Caring Report

There is evidence to show that carers give up work to care. Carers UK research suggests that over 2 million people have given up work at some point to care for loved ones and 3 million have reduced working hours 38. The current impact of staff turnover, absenteeism and stress as a result of juggling work with caring is already having a huge impact on business, estimated to be costing UK businesses over 3.5 billion every year 39. Employers are increasingly recognising the role of adult social care in supporting carers to remain at work. The Employers for Carers forum, in submitting evidence to the Carers Strategy, highlighted social care as one of the conditions to enable people to work in the same way that childcare enables parents to work. The forum raised some concern about current and future provision of social care in this context. Their evidence showed worry about the stress that caring for relatives places on colleagues at work, and for some, who have to give up work as a result affecting productivity for businesses in the UK. The CIPD has also recognised the stress on employees of juggling work and care last year as an increasingly important issues raised by its members 40. Recommendation: Local Authorities must ensure they meet market shaping duties set out in the Care Act, consulting with carers to ensure sufficiency and diversity of high quality care services. Local Authority use of innovation to support carers In the face of rising demand and increased pressure on resources, local authorities are looking for different solutions that can help meet these challenges preventing situations from developing further, increasing resilience, helping people to access other forms of support that might be available in the community and build individuals personal capacity to self-manage conditions. Carers UK has been working with carers to look at solutions that would help to meet some of these challenges and how local authorities might change policy, practice, and their service offers to deliver meet this challenge. Technology has a vital role to play in supporting carers and digital solutions can prove both cost effective and highly beneficial resource for local authorities. Carers UK has a range of evidence 38 Carers UK and YouGov (2013) as part of Caring & Family Finances Inquiry UK Report (2014) 39 Carers UK (2014) Care Leave, Impact on Business 40 http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/06/06/two-thirds-of-employers-don-t-providesupport-for-working-carers.aspx

from carers and the general public about the extent to which technology could help to improve care. Whilst it is not a panacea and cannot replace certain types of care which only individuals can provide, there is more that could be done in this area. Given the challenges facing carers and public authorities Carers UK has developed a Digital Resource including a number of digital products and online resources to help Local Authorities meet their duties to carers under the Care Act as well as seeking to provide the support, information and advice that carers are looking for. These resources from Carers UK include: About Me: an e-learning resource that helps carers identify and build networks of support and promotes their self-care and is aimed at improving their resilience. Jointly: a care co-ordination app for people sharing care built from the concept of carers wanted to be able to co-ordinate care between a number of different people better; reducing time spent organising, reducing stress, improving health. Upfront Guide to Caring: a simple assessment tool to guide people new to caring or seeking support for the first time helping carers to receive a tailored information package after completing a 3 minute self-assessment. Being Heard: a guide for carers, which helps them develop the skills to selfadvocate. Carers UK is working with a number of Local Authorities who are providing the digital resources listed above as a package of support for all carers in their area: Critically, the Digital Resource for Carers will help local authorities meet their Care Act duties on information and advice, prevention and wellbeing John Bangs, Carers Lead, Surrey County Council The Government is also currently funding nine Carers in Employment pilots, are looking at how local authorities can use technology to support working carers. The pilots will run until spring 2017 41. Recommendation: Local government should embed the use of technology including digital information and health and care technologies - in implementation of duties on information and advice, prevention and wellbeing under the Care Act. 41 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supporting-carers-to-stay-in-paid-employment

August 2016