We Care, We Count

Rethink want carers to be valued, listened to and supported. This campaign works towards these goals, and began with work on the Carers' Strategy.

Carers to be protected by disability discrimination law!

We Care We Count LogoThe Minister for Women and Equalities, Harriet Harman, has announced that carers are to be protected from discrimination in the forthcoming Equalities Bill.

This new piece of legislation will bring together all the different laws protecting people from discrimination based on disability, gender, race, age, sexual orientation and religious belief.

Rethink is delighted that the Government intends to extend protection to carers of people with disabilities, including long term mental illness. We know that carers can face discrimination in the workplace, or when buying goods or services, and the Equalities Bill will apply to all these areas.

Prime Minister's Carers' Strategy - what does it say?

The Prime Minister's Carers' Strategy was launched on 10th June 2008. The strategy sets out commitments about support and services for carers over the next 10 years.

The key commitments include extra funding for respite to be spent locally, a carer training programme (Confidence to Care), a national information helpline and information, and training for professionals to better understand carers' issues.

We still need to make sure that issues specific to mental health carers are addressed in pilots, professional training and service provision.

Local carers' consultations

This year, local authorities and health trusts are holding consultations on carers services and support.

Make sure they hear about what carers of people with mental illness need -  have your say!

Carer's Inquiry - Rethink success!

The Work and Pensions Parliamentary Committee has representatives from all major political parties and makes recommendations to the Government.

This summer, they reviewed carers' income and access to information. Rethink provided a written submission and also met with committee members.

Their recommendations to the Government's Department of Work & Pensions, made in August 08, include:

  • Benefits claim process to identify when appointeeship (when a carer manages the benefit claim for someone they care for) might be appropriate and provide information. This recommendation came directly from Rethink's submission.
  • A radical overhaul of carers benefits to include an income replacement benefit (at same rate as Job Seeker Plus but without condition to find work) and a payment to cover costs of caring, which would also be available to carers of pension age. The Government should also invest in a large scale awareness campaign on carers' benefits.
  • That the Department of Work and Pensions should simplify application processes for carers' entitlements.
  • Pilots should be carried out to explore how health services and local authorities can work together to provide benefits advice in healthcare settings.
  • Various changes to make work and training more accessible to carers.

Read Rethink's submission to the Inquiry: Work and Pensions Committee Inquiry submission April 2008 (86 kb) [doc]

Give us a break!

Carers outside parliament

Carers took a break outside Parliament on the day the Carers' Strategy is launched. £150 million works out as £30 per carer over two years. That's not going to buy a summer holiday!

Join the movement

Man shouting through a megaphone

Sign up to Campaign by email!  You can help to challenge the discrimination faced by people affected by mental illness. Our campaigners make a real difference, by high-lighting mental health issues to decision-makers across England and Northern Ireland.

Further information