Rachel Reeves creates ‘perfect storm’ for six million unpaid carers across UK

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has caused a “perfect storm” threatening to destroy vital services for the UK’s six million carers, according to a major charity.

Those hit include children who find themselves caring for a disabled sibling or even a sick parent.

Charity the Carers Trust is urging the Chancellor to act after warning that carers are already at “breaking point.”

Chief Executive Kirsty McHugh said the decision to increase National Insurance contributions for employers, which puts up staffing costs, would be the final straw. Organisations that help carers, many of them small and local services, are already struggling because the local councils that commission services are trying to save money.

She said: “Local carer organisations are facing a perfect storm of National Insurance rises, increased operating costs and demands from commissioners to do more with less. If this continues, many of these vital services could be lost forever.”

Ms McHugh said: “Our analysis shows the need for support is greater than ever and many unpaid carers tell us they’re at breaking point.

“Without the lifeline these services provide, they won’t be able to carry on. That would spell disaster for an already creaking social care sector. Local and national governments need to take urgent action now, before it’s too late.”

The charity, which has a network of 130 local carer organisations across the UK, warns urgent action is needed to stop some of these services being lost forever, leaving unpaid carers without the vital support they need.

Local care organisations provide vital support, advice, breaks and grants for the UK’s six million unpaid carers. The Chancellor’s decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions in October’s Budget has ramped up financial pressure on these organisations. The change will cost them £3 million on top of a further estimated £4 million through inncreases to the National Living Wage.

And new figures show they are under serious pressure even before that increase comes in. The Carers Trust network now has 1,094,916 registered carers, up from 1,047,823 the previous year.

However the 130 local organisations supported by the charity have seen a 13% real terms reduction in the value of contracts from local authorities and statutory health organisations for commissioned services since 2021/22.

With council budgets under pressure, these contracts are increasingly asking them to deliver more for less, the trust says.