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| TX: 21.02.07 - New Deal for Carers PRESENTER: JOHN WAITE |
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| THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE BBC CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. WAITE Now as you've no doubt heard in the news the government's launching what it calls a new deal for carers today, providing around £35 million to help support the UK's six million unpaid carers who are looking after elderly and disabled relatives, a figure that's set to rise to £9 million over the next 25 years. The minister with responsibility for social care is Ivan Lewis, he's just finished speaking at the launch and he joins us now. Minister, £35 million isn't an awful lot of money when it's got to go towards helping six million carers. LEWIS Well good afternoon. I think the first point to make is this builds on a grant that we introduced in 1999, an annual grant that goes to every local authority, which is millions of pounds, which must be used specifically to support carers, so this money is over and above that and is new money. And it's for specific purposes. First of all, the introduction in every local authority area of a limited amount of emergency respite care because carers tell us constantly that when they have a sudden problem that occurs in their life there's very, very little access to emergency respite care. So this new funding stream will make a real difference in that respect. WAITE Well can I - can I just stop you there because we have heard from one of our listeners - Linda Wisbach [phon.] - who cares 24 hours a day for her husband Philip, he has multiple disabilities, so when an emergency happened - her son Stuart fell from a balcony whilst away at university - she faced a real quandary. WISBACH The police came to our house at about 4 o'clock in the morning to say that he'd been in an accident. Anyway when I got through to the hospital I found out that he had suffered a serious head injury and had a bleed. As a parent I had this instinct to go to my son's side but knowing my husband was so disabled and so distressed I couldn't leave him, in the back of my mind I know I wouldn't have been able to go if I couldn't find anyone to look after my husband. WAITE So just the kind of stress you don't need - your son's involved in a terrible accident, it seems, and yet you can't leave your husband in case he has a terrible accident. WISBACH Well at the time it made me realise that as a carer I'd virtually become a prisoner in my own home. After this awful incident I had nightmares. I mean I can laugh about it now but at the time it was really dreadful. WAITE So minister, sorry to interrupt you before you'd almost begun, but you were saying your new deal for carers today ... LEWIS It's alright I'm used to it. WAITE .... will help in cases like Linda's there then? LEWIS I mean that is the - Linda's case is a prime example of where frankly a carer shouldn't have to worry and have to make a choice and that's what the position she found herself in. The emergency respite care fund will hopefully ensure that far less carers have to make such an unacceptable choice. WAITE And where's some of the other money going? I see £3 million is going to go on a help line but as I say surely the carers want more support on the ground, not a sympathetic ear on the telephone? LEWIS Well it's interesting, as I say, this builds on support that is already happening on the ground. But let's be clear what it is: it's to ring one number and know when you ring that number whatever information and advice you need you will get immediately. What carers tell us all the time is there's numerous organisations, different structures, different sources of information. What they want is a streamlined contact source where they know if they ring that number they'll end up in the right place as quickly as possible. And therefore the help line will ensure that carers up and down the country can ring one number and get that level of service. So it's responding directly to what carers tell us they need and want. The other thing that we're committed to doing is the creation of an expert carers' programme. Carers tell us that when they suddenly become a carer and they have to fulfil responsibilities, very practical things like lifting and handling perhaps a physically disabled or older partner, they need training to enable them and to help them know how to go about that. And also the expert carers' programme will give them the skills and the knowledge about how to challenge the system, how to challenge the professionals, if they're not happy with the level of support that the cared for person is receiving. WAITE I'm going to have to interrupt you again but please stay with us Ivan Lewis because already this new deal isn't a good enough deal for MP Gary Streeter and on Friday his private members bill will receive its second reading in the Commons and if successful it'll place a statutory duty on local authorities to provide short breaks to families who are caring for disabled children, people like Geraldine from Prestwick - her grandson receives three hours a week respite care at her local Red Centre but those precious hours could be withdrawn at any time. GERALDINE Short breaks have been an absolute godsend. There is immense value to the children. In Michael's case he receives three hours a week. It's a chance to break the apron strings a bit. He has exposure to opportunities that he wouldn't get inside the home. WAITE And what about the impact on the family - I mean it's only three hours a week but what kind of difference does that make to them? GERALDINE It makes a huge difference. Our children are our pride and joy, all we need and the families need is just that bit of extra support to keep us flying. During Michael's attendance at Red Centre that's our chance to do other activities with the rest of the children, so that they just for once in the week can have their needs put first. I'm chair of a local family support group for families of children with disabilities, we have 400 families, and the proportion of those families who are single parent - not because they started out that way but because the sheer demand of having to give everything all the time to a child does put incalculable stresses and strains on other relationships and all too often it's the other relationship that's sacrificed. WAITE And have you seen families break up because of the pressure? GERALDINE All too sadly, all too sadly, many, many. WAITE Well Gary Streeter MP is listening to that. I guess Mr Streeter that Geraldine there, that's just the sort of family that your bill is seeking to support to make sure that the three hours respite care they get, but which could be taken away at any moment, could not be taken away, it would be ring fenced? STREETER That's right and Geraldine I think was a very powerful advocate for the bill I seek to introduce with cross party support on Friday because there are about a hundred thousand families like that and although in some parts of the country there is provision, in many parts of the country, and from time to time, there isn't quality short break help available. And you know three hours a week for a family caring for their child 24/7 really are they asking too much? They are not and it's time we provided it. WAITE But this would be very expensive wouldn't it - I mean I think on your own estimates something like £150 million a year. And on the day of the government's very own new deal, it's only providing £35 million, so how realistic are your proposals? STREETER Well what I've said to government ministers is, I mean, no one can write a blank cheque but three hours a week at let's say £10 an hour for someone to come in and sit with Michael whilst the family does something else, as we've heard, it's about £1500 a year, we think about £2,000-£3,000 per child per year. That is not a vast sum of money, especially when families can break up and sometimes children have to be cared for by the state and that costs £200,000 per annum per child. You know it's one of those issues I think where you'd have to say their time has come. How much longer are we going to deny these 100,000 families just three hours a week, one weekend a month, the ability to survive their tremendous heroic campaign to care for their own severely disabled children? WAITE Conservative MP Gary Streeter. Well a final word Ivan Lewis, there still seems a lot to do to support carers properly. LEWIS Well let's be clear - Geraldine is a friend of mine and a constituent actually, she's a remarkable woman, she's not only a full time carer as a grandma, she runs a local charitable organisation supporting other disabled children and their families, quite a remarkable lady. And everything she said is absolutely correct. WAITE And will today's new deal help her? LEWIS It will but the big thing in terms of Geraldine and many, many families like her is that the government is committed to bringing forward in the next few months specific proposals on improving short breaks for disabled children and their families. It was a process set up by Ed Balls when he was a backbench MP, he's now economic secretary to the Treasury, it's a major part of the comprehensive spending review process and those specific proposals on improving short breaks the government will be bringing forward in the next few months. The bill on Friday - we can't support that specifically because it's uncosted, we think it will offer people an uncosted commitment which is unfair actually to disabled children and families but we will be bringing forward our own proposal on improving short breaks specifically in a matter of months not years. WAITE Ivan Lewis, minister, thank you very much indeed for joining us today. Back to the You and Yours homepage The BBC is not responsible for external websites |
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