Liberal Democrats Leader has vowed to put carers on the parliamentary agenda, as
the Conservative Government once again left them out in today’s
Queen’s Speech.
Six other key Government publications from the past year –
including the Budget, the Spending Review and the Health and Care
white paper – also didn’t contain a single mention of unpaid
carers.
The Liberal Democrats are pushing for carers to be explicitly
included in the Health and Care Bill, which was announced in the
Queen’s Speech today. is also proposing legislation that would give carers a
new right to reasonable adjustments, to allow them to juggle work
with caring responsibilities.
Liberal Democrats Leader commented:
“This pandemic has shown that we are a nation of carers, but it’s
also shown that carers are too often an afterthought for this
Conservative Government.
“People looking after their loved ones are doing a remarkable and
important job in the face of big challenges. They deserve our
support, but have been forgotten and ignored again and again by
the Tories.
“Conservative Ministers didn’t listen to our calls for Carer’s
Allowance to go up during this pandemic, or for emergency funding
for councils to give carers a break. And now has left out unpaid carers from the Queen’s Speech
altogether.
“I will keep fighting to put carers high up the parliamentary
agenda. Liberal Democrats are standing up for carers and working
to build a more caring society as we emerge from this pandemic.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
The following Government publications did not include a single
mention of unpaid carers:
-
A Plan for Jobs (HM Treasury, 8th July 2020): 27 pages
[LINK]
-
Spending Review 2020 (HMT, 25th November 2020): 116 pages
[LINK]
-
Health and Care white paper (DHSC, 11th February 2021): 80
pages [LINK]
-
Budget 2021 (HM Treasury, 3rd March 2021): 102 pages [LINK]
-
Build Back Better: Our plan for growth (HMT, 3rd March 2021):
110 pages [LINK]
-
NHS Mandate 2021-22 (DHSC, 25th March 2021): 21 pages [LINK]
