Wendy Chamberlain

It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this important debate in honour of carers’ day-to-day rights, and for her work in the all-party parliamentary group on carers. I declare an interest as an honorary vice-president of Carers UK and a trustee of the board of Fife Carers Centre; both are incredible organisations. I also want to recognise other organisations that provide support in this area, include Sheffield University’s Centre for Care, the Carers Trust and Fife Young Carers, which provides support to young carers in my North East Fife constituency and beyond. Unpaid care is part of almost all our lives, whether we recognise it or not. I am no exception. When I started campaigning for the Liberal Democrats, and then became an MP under the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), who is a carer himself and a prominent activist—in fact, I almost once described him as my carer—I became truly involved with the fight for the rights of unpaid carers. As a newish Back-Bench MP, it was an incredible opportunity, and it was also quite fun and exciting to be able to get a law passed: the private Member’s Bill that became the Carer’s Leave Act 2023. Looking back now, what I remember most is the amazing people I met during that time in North East Fife, and throughout the country—just a handful of the 5.8 million unpaid carers, impressive in their resilience, love and thoughtfulness. I was moved by what was behind that resilience and humour: the tiredness, strain and financial difficulties, as well as the constant worry of thinking about someone else. I intend to use my time to reflect on the 2023 Act and what more needs to be done. It is disheartening that, in the two and a half years since the Act was passed, evidence suggests that things are still getting worse. Research by Carers UK, “State of Caring 2025”, which the hon. Member for Shipley referred to, shows that 49% of carers have had to cut back on essentials; in 2023, that figure was 34%, already elevated from 25% in 2022, and it was just 13% in 2021. This is not the result of bad luck or the same impact from the cost of living crisis as we all see; the rate of poverty among unpaid carers is 50% higher than in the rest of the population. This is clearly the outcome of structural inequalities that the Government need to address. There are some other things that the Government can do immediately to ease the financial burden on unpaid carers, particularly those in receipt of carer’s allowance. I pay tribute to the long work of Baroness Pitkeathley on behalf of unpaid carers, both in the other place and beyond. On Tuesday, she asked the Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions in the House of Lords when we can expect the publication of the independent review into carer’s allowance overpayments. I would be most grateful for some further detail on that from the Minister and colleagues in the DWP, other than “by the end of the year”, given that it is only four weeks until the House rises for Christmas recess. When in that period can we expect the report to be published, and will there be time for parliamentary scrutiny of it? The overpayments scandal has affected thousands of people across the UK. The last thing that unpaid carers, and indeed the MPs representing them, want is a written statement hurriedly published in late afternoon on 18 December. As we are still awaiting publication of the review and the Government’s response to it, I will set out some of the reforms needed to end the financial inequalities experienced by unpaid carers. The carer’s allowance earnings threshold must be pegged to the minimum wage, so that no unpaid carers in work ever find themselves earning “too much”, simply because the Government made it so. The rules on what unpaid carers can earn must be made clearer, and DWP staff must be trained better to prevent future inadvertent overpayments. Of course, the Timms review of personal independence payments must make sure not to disadvantage unpaid carers. I should acknowledge that my constituents in Scotland are now in receipt of the equivalent carer’s support payments. Referring again to the Carer’s Leave Act, last night I attended the carers’ rights event in Parliament, where I was pleased to speak to a number of businesses that are already going above and beyond the provisions in the Act. They are doing that because they believe it makes good business sense. For them, it is about the psychological contract, improving employees’ loyalty and retaining them—staff retention is as important as recruitment. I am pleased that the Government have published their terms of reference for the review of the Act. That has, in some respect, answered what was going to be my first question to the Minister. The bad news is that I have some other reflections on the back of yesterday’s announcement. The terms of reference published yesterday give a timeline for evidence gathering that started over a year ago, in autumn 2024. That is quite a lot of time for the Government to have been doing engagement and commissioned research before coming to Parliament or even announcing the review and what it aims to achieve. Will the Minister update us on what evidence and engagement has been secured to date? There is a formal public consultation of 10 to 12 weeks to seek views. I know that unpaid carers, the networks that represent them and the organisations offering support will want to respond, but most of these structures are manned and run by volunteers or paid staff who are already stretched, and we know that unpaid carers have more than enough to deal with on a day-to-day basis already, and often feel guilty about the admin involved in their lives. Have the Government considered whether the 10-week consultation period will be long enough? What steps will they take to reach people and engage on the ground? On the findings of the review, I have my suspicions, which I have raised with the Government before, that not enough businesses were made aware of the new right under the Act. I fear not enough businesses trained their managers, HR teams and employees about it, and I fear that the Government gave insufficient information to employers and businesses about their obligations. Without adequate communications, not enough unpaid carers knew to see themselves as carers or that they were entitled to the support. If it is going to be a paid leave right, if that is the direction of travel, we need to get better at those things. I want to say in words the Government will understand that I firmly believe paid carer’s leave supports the growth agenda and will help the economy. One thing I have loved about joining the board of Fife Carers is seeing the impact on the local organisation and volunteers. The centre was shortlisted as a finalist for providing outstanding carer service at this year’s inaugural Carers UK awards. That is quite something for an organisation that started with just one part-time worker 30 years ago. The nomination recognised the value of the support the organisation provides, whether its hospital carer self-care kits or its carer support groups. I had the pleasure of attending one in Leven recently and people were not backward in coming forward to talk about the changes they want to see. Whether someone is working and caring or caring full time, they will inevitably be exhausted. The “State of Caring 2025” report says that 74% of carers feel stressed or anxious, and 42% say their physical health has declined. We all need a break sometimes; carers need and deserve it more than most, but how are they to manage that when they have someone relying on them day in, day out? The answer is funded respite care. I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett), my party’s spokesperson for care and carers, will mention that, given that she has a Bill before Parliament to ensure that unpaid carers are offered respite. I support that wholeheartedly. I hope the Minister can give us an update on that, too. I am conscious of time, so I will end my remarks there. Inequalities exist and we have a responsibility here in this place to address them.