Carers Legislation - Consultation on Proposals - January 2014: Easy Read

The Carer's Assessment: Carer's Support Plan

We want to make some changes to how we decide what carers' support needs are.

Carers who give a lot of care can have a carer's assessment. Carers ask the local authority to decide how much support they need to keep giving care.

Some carers don't like the name "carer's assessment". We want to change the name to "Carer's Support Plan".

Question 1

Should we change the name from "carer's assessment" to "Carer's Support Plan"?

Yes

No

Comments

Some local authorities do an assessment to decide how much regular care each carer gives. Some do not. We want to change this so that all carers will be able to have a Carer's Support Plan. It won't matter how much regular care they give.

Question 2

Should we change the rules so that all carers can have a Carer's Support Plan?

Yes

No

Comments

The person being cared for has to qualify for support from the local authority to get a carer's assessment. But some people don't need that kind of support or don't want it.

We want to change the rules so that the person being cared for doesn't have to qualify for local authority support.

Question 3

Should the person being cared for have to qualify for local authority support to get a carer's assessment?

Yes

No

Comments

Carers can ask their local authority for an assessment (Carer's Support Plan). Not all carers know that they can ask for one. We want to change the rules so that local authorities offer a Carer's Support Plan to all carers.

Question 4

Should we change the rules so that carers can ask for a Carer's Support Plan or be offered one by the local authority?

Yes

No

Comments

The rules say that a carer's ability to give care is being assessed. Some carers don't like this. They think it is saying they are not good enough at giving care.

We want to change the rules so that the Carer's Support Plan doesn't say anything about a carer's "ability to give care".

Question 5

Should we change the rules so that the Carer's Support Plan doesn't say anything about a carer's ability to give care?

Yes

No

Comments

It can take a long time for carers to get a carer's assessment. We think the people doing the assessment should tell carers how long they will have to wait. We think they should be told why if they have to wait longer.

Question 6

Should local authorities have to tell carers how long they'll have to wait to get a Carer's Support Plan? Should the local authority have to give reasons if carers have to wait longer?

Yes

No

Comments

Not all parts of the country have the same services. Service users might not be able to get the same support if they move to a new area. They might have to wait until a new carer's assessment is done.

We think it should be easier for service users and carers to move to a new area. We think the Government and local authorities should work together to make this happen.

Question 7

How important do you think it is that service users and carers should get the same support if they move to a new area?

Comments

Question 8

Should the Government and local authorities work together to make this happen?

Yes

No

Comments