In a follow up in its inquiry on Support for
carers published today, Tuesday 31 July 2018, the Chair
of the Work and Pensions Committee expresses their deep
disappointment with the Government’s response (also published
today) to its recommendations, saying the Government “rejected
the mildest of recommended changes with limited argument to
support those decisions.
All our recommendations were agreed in the spirit of wishing to
improve the lives of millions of carers, not to criticise the
Department.
We would therefore expect the Department to engage openly and
constructively with our work and to recognise our report—with
recommendations based on a wealth of evidence—as a valuable
policy tool to drive progress. In turn, we would expect the
Government’s response to set out the reasons for rejecting any
recommendations in a detailed and considered way.”
The Committee’s inquiry into employment support for carers
received 64 written evidence submissions, heard from six panels
of witnesses and travelled to Stoke-on-Trent to learn about the
lived experiences of carers juggling their responsibilities
alongside paid employment. This evidence base informed the
inquiry’s report subsequent recommendations, which were agreed
unanimously by the Committee. The report and accompanying press
release outlining the recommendations are here: Benefits cliff edge for
carers means work doesn't pay
The follow up letter to minister for disabled people sets out 7 specific points
where the Committee feels “the Department’s response fell short
of this standard. I am sending it in the same spirit described
above and hope it is received, and responded to, with this in
mind.” The letter presses the Government to present evidence for
the basis of its rejection of the Committee’s recommended policy
changes, including, for example, signposting carers to additional
services: “a simple step with potentially significant gains…. the
Government’s reluctance to accept this recommendation is somewhat
baffling.”
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Committee,
said: ‘The Government has scored a first: one could be forgiven
for thinking it was replying to a totally different report,
rather than the well-researched and unanimously agreed
recommendations published by the Select Committee on support for
carers. There is barely any contact between the evidence and
recommendations we published, and the Government’s non-response.
It has barely paid lip service to an issue that is central to the
lives of millions of people. I am sure it can do better for this
country’s heroic and undervalued carers as well as their
families. So we have taken the unusual step of inviting
Government to go away and try again.” /ENDS
Notes:
Full details of the Work and Pensions Committee’s work
on Support for carers
Committee Membership is as follows:
- Chair (Labour), (Conservative), (Conservative), (Conservative), (Labour), (Labour), (Labour), (Labour), (Conservative), (Scottish National Party)
