New pilot scheme announced to help carers stay in employment

Government ministers have announced plans for a new series of pilots to help explore how carers balance their roles as carers and other work responsibilities.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Nicky Morgan and minister for care and support, Norman Lamb revealed the plans for the £1.6 million pilot where carers will have the opportunity to use pop up care centres, email notifications and smart phones to monitor and plan formal and informal care and support.

Ms Morgan, said: “Carers who feel forced to leave their jobs are a real loss to the workforce and economy. We want to give people the peace of mind about their loved ones that helps them keep their jobs.

“Women often find themselves caring for both older relatives and children; juggling work and caring can be enormously stressful. These pilot projects are designed to test how that pressure can be eased and allow people to balance their caring responsibilities with their jobs and families.”

There are more than five million carers in England and almost 60 per cent of them are female, most are aged 50-64 and 12 per cent of them work full-time alongside providing care.

More than three million carers are supporting family members and working. It is estimated that providing them with additional support to provide care and manage their paid work would benefit their families and provide the UK economy with a yearly saving of £1.3 billion.

Mr Lamb, said: “Too many carers find it difficult to balance their important caring roles with their work commitments. This has costly implications not only for them, but for our businesses and economy too. “Our Care Act will provide more support to carers than ever before by working with people, their employers and communities. This project will help us to build a stronger economy and a fairer society.”

The idea will be trialled in nine areas and see how effective professional support from the local authority as well as support from friends, neighbours and Time Bank volunteers is at reducing the pressure on those acting as carers.

The idea behind the pilots has been devised in support of the Care Act which is due to come into effect in April, encouraging local councils to meet carers needs for support and recognise the importance of their health and well-being.

Pilots will monitor adults who require care by telephone each day at the same time and advise the carer is they do not require any assistance. One pilot will see a pop up business school established to help carers’ become self-employed. In addition, the pilots will look at how businesses can offer more support to their employees with responsibilities to provide care for others, including offering flexible working hours and carers ‘surgeries.’

The Government has taken measures to ensure that women do not feel disadvantaged in the workplace because of their responsibilities as carers; the Government now offers shared parental leave and tax free childcare providing 2 million families with £2000 worth of support. Dr Ros Altmann, Government business champion for older workers, said: “In my role, I have heard from many carers who tell me that they want to get back into work. Employers are waking up to the energy and enthusiasm of older workers, but they sometimes need to make allowances for extra caring responsibilities they may have.

“Those bosses who are ready to help their employees move to part-time or flexible hours are seeing their staff paying them back in spades with loyalty and by adding value to their company.” The pilots will take place over the course of two years in nine areas throughout the UK including, North Tyneside, Gateshead, Northamptonshire, Bury, North Somerset, Cheshire West, South Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Stoke and Sefton.

The launch of these pilots coincides with a decision by the Public Health Responsibility Deal’s health at work network to offer support to employers of those with long term health problems, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. The decision is intended to improve the level of support offered to carers by employers, allowing them to care for themselves and the people that they care for, more effectively.

Dr Altmann added: “These pilots are an exciting step forward to give us the chance to see how we can educate employers and provide specialist support for all carers to stay in employment.”