Legislation and Policy
This covers the key legislation and Government policy applying to carers. Here you can find out what the rights carers’ have and what Government would like statutory organisations to do for carers in England.
Below is a brief overview of Acts of Parliament that are relevant to carers. A good summary of the law relating to carers is by Prof Luke Clements: Carers and their Rights (4th ed)
The Law Commission published recommendations for England and Wales in May 2011 that are currently being considered and could amend these laws if enacted. A summary of their recommendations are available here:[insert link to summary of law commission that I have put in the folder]
Acts of Parliament
The Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act (1986)
Section 8 says that consideration must be given as to whether a carer is able to continue to care for that person when assessing a disabled person’s needs.
The NHS and Community Care Act (1990)
This requires councils to involve families and carers when making plans to assist adults who are vulnerable.
In Scotland, this legal duty is incorporated into the Social Work (S) Act 1968 s12A.
The Carers (Recognition and Services) Act (1995); Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000; The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004
Between them, these acts:
- Give all carers the right to have their needs assessed. Carers over 16, including parent carers of disabled children, are entitled to an assessment in their own right.
- Place a duty on authorities to ensure that all carers know they are entitled to an assessment of their needs.
- State that carers assessments should always consider a carer’s outside interests (work, study or leisure) when carrying out an assessment. They should also promote better joint working between councils and the health service, by giving local authorities the right to ask for assistance from other authorities in planning the provision of services for carers.
- Empower local authorities to introduce voucher schemes for carer breaks services and extend powers of local authorities to provide more specific services for carers. These carer-specific services, which are not community care services, may be funded by direct payments to carers. N.B. The vouchers scheme for carers is not a feature of Scottish provision.
The cared for person can have services, in addition to those they are assessed as needing in their own right, as a result of the needs of the carer.
Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 Combined Policy Guidance (DH 2005)
- In Scotland*, only the 1995 Act applies and is now supported by the Community Care and Health (S) Act 2002. Many of the rights listed above are included in these pieces of legislation.
Work and Families Act 2006
This gives carers the right to request flexible working from their employer. Read more about carers' rights at work.
The Equality Act (2010)
Carers cannot be discriminated against because of their association to anybody who has one of the following characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, race, religion/belief, sex or sexual orientation. Thus, if a carer is caring for somebody who is disabled, they cannot be discriminated against because of something to do with that person’s disability.
View more legislation for England and Wales and Scotland.
