The Minister for Care Services, Paul Burstow, this
autumn put out a call to individuals and organisations for views
and evidence on the activities that will have the greatest impact
on improving carers' lives in the next four years.
The Government's aim was to refresh the previous
Government's 2008 Carers Strategy 'Carers at the heart of 21st
Century families and communities' with a view to producing a clear
plan of action for the next four years.
The intension was not to rewrite the strategy but to prioritise
the key activities upon which the Government - working in
partnership with carers, local authorities, the NHS, employers, the
voluntary sector and local communities - can focus from April 2011
onwards.
We received the call for evidence and responded with strong
recommendations on which aspects of the 2008 Carers Strategy to
prioritise.
In our response we note that individuals should not be dependent
on government support and that a fundamental shift is needed in
terms of cultural and social attitudes to deliver change.
We believe that it is a critical requirement that carers and
families are respected and function as part of a wider
community-based system of support. We want carers to have the
freedom to spend their allocated money in a flexible and creative
way to meet their outcomes. With this in mind we emphasised that we
need to provide real examples of what is possible for carers
through courses such as Partners in Policymaking.
Documents detailing our full response and an overview of all
responses as well as the revised strategy 'Recognised, valued and
supported' can be downloaded below.
Last Updated : 22 January 2011. Page Author: Laura Bimpson.
