Centre for Care brings carers’ voices to UK party conferences

Our UK member, the Centre for Care, has been taking evidence on carers and social care to the heart of the UK’s political debate, with a presence at the recent Labour and Liberal Democrat party conferences.

Together with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), the Centre for Care co-hosted a Labour Party Conference panel on care equity, bringing together parliamentarians and sector experts to explore how evidence can help tackle inequalities and support fairer reform of adult social care.

At the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, the Centre for Care hosted a fringe event focusing on support for carers and the future of Carer’s Allowance, examining new evidence on the barriers and harm experienced by unpaid carers when accessing their welfare rights.

At both events, the Centre for Care promoted its latest research, A Roadmap for the Department for Work and Pensions: Rebuilding trust with carers and implementing a systemic approach to vulnerability in the welfare benefits system.

The Roadmap calls for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to adopt a more systemic approach to vulnerability, recognising not only individual circumstances but also the role played by benefit systems, processes and organisational culture. Drawing on research, stakeholder engagement and carers’ lived experiences, it sets out recommendations to embed fairness, dignity, respect and transparency in the design and administration of benefits.

The Centre for Care is inviting organisations and individuals to endorse the Roadmap and support its call for a step change in the relationship between the welfare system and carers.

Read the Roadmap and find out how to endorse it:
A Roadmap for the Department for Work and Pensions