3.3.2 Assessments for Carers

Bradford Social Services has a well established tradition of providing a range of services for the more vulnerable and dependent residents of the Bradford Metropolitan District. The Department is committed to working in partnership with users, carers, and other agencies to provide and develop local services.

A carer is a person of any age and not employed to care, nor a member of voluntary organisation providing care, whose life is in some way restricted because of the need to take responsibility for the care of a person who is mentally ill, has a learning or physical disability or whose health is impaired by sickness or old age. The person being cared for may be of any age.

Over the past 10 years the Government has passed 3 Acts of Parliament relating to Carers (1995, 2000, 2004) and launched the National Carers Strategy (1999). All these initiatives have significantly contributed to raising the profile and recognition of carers, improving services to support them, and most importantly valuing their role in our local communities. The support for carers has been reinforced in the Governments routine Social Services Inspections, reviews of the performance of Social Services Departments and through the Carers Grant, which has enabled local authorities to target support for a range of carers’ activities in their areas.

The Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 states that carers are:

Adults (people aged 18 and over) who provide or intend to provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis;
Children and young people (under 18) who provide or intend to provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis;
Parents who provide or intend to provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis for disabled children.

The 1995 Act established the right of the Carer to ask for an assessment if they were providing (or intending to provide) a substantial amount of care for an individual on a regular basis. The need of the Carer that were identified as a result of the assessment could then be taken into account when putting together a care package for the person for whom they care.

The 1995 Act built upon the requirements of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986. The 1986 Act placed a duty on local authorities to have regard to the ability of a person providing substantial and regular care for someone with a disability to continue to provide such care.

What exactly constitutes “a substantial amount of care on a regular basis” is not specifically defined in legislation. It is, though, essential, prior to undertaking an assessment of a carer’s needs, for the local authority to satisfy itself that the cared for person is someone for whom it may provide or arrange for the provision of community care services. It is usual practice in Bradford to take carers’ needs into account, where appropriate, as part of the overall assessment of each service user, and to consider the needs of carers where the person they care for refuses a service but could be eligible for one. Particularly important to a carer’s experience is the impact that caring can have on them, their ability to sustain the caring role and the extent of risk there may be in them doing so. The impact that caring is having may be discussed with the carer in the presence of the person for whom they care, or separately, on their own, if that is more appropriate.

The National Carers Strategy, published in 1999, set out the Governments plans to support carers in a practical way through the provision of information, helping carers stay in employment, and by helping carers to care for themselves.

The Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 further developed the 1995 Act and the National Carers Strategy by giving carers aged 16 and over and those with parental responsibility for disabled children the right to request an assessment, even if the person they care for had refused one, and by enabling local authorities to offer certain services and support directly to carers following such an assessment. For carers of disabled children their needs will be considered as part of an assessment of the needs of the child and family. This Act also meant that such carers could be given a direct payment enabling flexibility and choice in meeting their own needs; it introduced short term break vouchers, and enabled local authorities to charge carers for services according to local charging policies, with the exception of children who are not charged for the services they receive.

The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 extends the access to support for all carers including young carers to ensure that their needs are also considered consistently with the provisions of the Children Act 1989 and the Framework for the Assessment of Children in need and their families. It requires local authorities to inform carers about their right to an assessment of their needs. It also gives emphasis to carers being able to live as full a life as possible. Carers’ assessments must now include consideration of whether a carer works, or wishes to work, and, whether they participate or wish to participate in any education, training, or leisure activity. It must then take that into account when planning the care package for the person they care for and in the flexible provision of services to help meet the holistic needs of the carer. The 2004 Act also promotes co-operation and joint working between public authorities (including housing, education and health) with an expectation that due consideration must be given to requests from a local authority for support or the development of services for carers.

End