**UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 HOURS, THURSDAY 28
OCTOBER**
XXXX MP BACKS NATIONAL LOBBY DAY AS GRANDPARENT
CARERS from XXX CALL FOR GREATER SUPPORT
New report says welfare reform and spending cuts will penalise army of family
& friends carers
Over 200 grandparent carers and their grandchildren from across the UK will head to
Westminster today (Thursday 28 October) to call for greater recognition and respect for the
‘forgotten army’ of carers.
Led by charity Grandparents Plus, the lobby day will see campaigners voice their concerns that
the recently announced local authority cuts and welfare reform measures will undermine
grandparents’ ability to care, resulting in more children ending up in the care system, at great
cost to the tax payer. There are an estimated 200,000 family and friends carers, raising around
300,000 children in the UK, who would cost an estimated £12 billion each year if they were in
the care system.
MPs are tabling an Early Day Motion calling on the government to recognise the vital role of
family and friends carers and ensure that family and friends carers are not disadvantaged by
welfare reform and cuts to local authority children’s services.
Local MP XXXX said,
INSERT MP QUOTE
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Grandparents Plus is launching its new report ‘What if we said no?’ to coincide with the lobby
day. The report includes the results a new survey of over 250 family and friends carers,
revealing the challenges facing grandparent carers, including:
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Two thirds have a household income of under £300 a week
7% don’t receive any kind of benefit or allowance for looking after a child – not even
child benefit
4 out of 10 (41%) are raising a child alone
Over half (57%) gave up work or reduced their hours to take on care of a child.
88% of the carers are under 65, half of them are under 55.
6 out of 10 have a chronic health condition or a disability
The report shows that children living in family and friends care are a particularly vulnerable
group, having experienced parental alcohol or drug misuse, abuse, neglect or domestic
violence, or the long-term illness of a parent. Grandparents Plus has also found that 4 out of 10
of these children have difficulties at schools such as making friends and some experience
bullying.
Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus said:
“We are very grateful to XXX MP for their support for this issue. Here are grandparents doing
the right thing, picking up the pieces in times of crisis and all too often they take a financial hit
and their health suffers as a result.”
“Our research shows that before they take on this caring role they are like any other
grandparents. But then a family crisis means they have to step in. It could happen to anyone.”
Campaigners are making a number of calls, including:
 Recognition for the vital role they play in looking after vulnerable children and
keeping them out of the care system. As a minimum they deserve to be counted - we
need official data on the number of families in this situation
 Protection from the impact of welfare reform and cuts to local authority children's
services, which may hit family and friends carers and the children they are looking
after (i.e. those who are outside the care system) particularly hard.
Sam Smethers added:
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“Making these families poorer will push some to breaking point and could result in more
children going into the care system. It could also discourage potential family and friends carers
from coming forward to care. This would be neither good for children nor cost-effective. We
know this Government values the role of grandparents in family life and also wants to tackle
the crisis in our care system, not add to it, so we urge ministers to consider ways in which they
can protect these families from the adverse impact of benefit changes and spending cuts.”
The survey also reveals that:
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Almost half (48%) of family and friends carers are looking after a child with special
needs or a disability
3 out of 10 (30%) are also caring for an elderly or disabled partner, relative or friend.
4 out of 10 have looked after the child/children for more than 5 years.
Ends.
For more information, a PDF of the report ‘What if we said no?’ and to talk to Sam Smethers or
case studies, please contact:
Melissa Milner [email protected] 020 7793 4035 / 07976 636 228
Case studies available upon request.
For more information, a PDF of the report ‘What if we said no?, or interviews with:
 Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus
 Lynn Chesterman, Chief Executive of the Grandparents Association
 Cathy Ashley, Chief Executive of Family Rights Group
Please contact : Melissa Milner [email protected] 020 7793 4035 / 07976 636
228
The report will be launched at a campaign meeting in parliament on 28th October, hosted by
Stephen Twigg MP. DWP Minister Steve Webb MP and Anne Begg MP, Chair of the Work and
Pensions Select Committee will be speaking at the event.
Yours Magazine are sponsoring a lunch and children’s party for the lobby day participants
Notes to editors:
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Campaigners are calling for:
1. Recognition for the vital role they play in looking after vulnerable children and keeping them
out of the care system. As a minimum they deserve to be counted - we need official data on the
number of families in this situation.
2. Respect and support from service providers, including legal advice when needed and
information about financial and other support they may be able to access.
3. Protection from the impact of welfare reform and cuts to local authority children's services,
which may hit family and friends carers and the children they are looking after (i.e. those who
are outside the care system) particularly hard. We also want to see the introduction of a
national allowance for family and friends carers who look after a child for more than 28 days.
4. Better access to services for them and for the children they care for including respite care,
peer support groups and family group conferencing.
5. A period of paid leave, equivalent to adoption leave when they take on the care of a child.
This would give them the time to cope with the upheaval in their lives, without losing their job
and reduce the number who feel they have to give up work.
Welfare benefit changes and cuts that will affect family and friends carers include:
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Housing benefit – 1 in 5 (22%) family and friends carers claim housing benefit. The cash
cap from April 2011 will particularly affect those living in areas with more expensive
properties. Those on Job Seekers Allowance will lose 10% of their housing benefit after
a year. Grandparents who have given up work to care for a child often find it difficult to
get back into work and so are likely to face this sanction. Those with an additional adult
living in the household will also face a reduction in housing benefit entitlement. Limiting
the number of bedrooms they are entitled to will adversely affect grandparents who are
raising their grandchildren as they often have dependent children at home too, or may
be raising more than one child. They tend to need bigger accommodation as at least
10% are living in households of 5 or more people.
National benefit cap – the national cap of £26,000 on the total amount of benefit which
one household can claim will adversely affect people living in more expensive parts of
the country and those in large households – which applies to many family and friends
carers.
Moving people off incapacity benefit to Job Seeker’s Allowance/ESA - 11% of family
and friends carers claim incapacity benefit. It will be particularly difficult for them to
find work.
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Requirements for single parents to go back to work when the youngest child is 5 –
Four out of 10 grandparent carers surveyed are raising children alone. Often they have
no choice but to give up work when they take on the care of a child. They will find it
particularly difficult to get back into work because of their age and what they have
experienced.
Council tax benefit – 1 in 3 of the survey respondents are claiming council tax benefit.
Plans to abolish it in 2013 and replace it with a Local authority grant creates uncertainty
for this group. The amount available will also be lower than current CTB spend, so some
recipients will lose out.
Tax credits - linking it to CPI not RPI, increasing the number of hours from 16–24 before
households can claim working tax credit, freezing working tax credit for 3 years, and
reducing the maximum amount that can be claimed for childcare costs from 80%-70%
will impact negatively on them, similarly so will stopping tax credits at £26K for those
with one child and increasing the taper from 39% to 41%. But increasing the per-child
element by £30 then £50 will help to offset this for some of the poorer families.
£12billion annual cost of caring for children
The £12 billion annual cost of caring for children in the care system has been calculated using
the Department for Education’s and Association of Directors of Children’s Services Cost
Effective Chidlren’s Services Project modelling of care costs for the Family Intervention Projects
evaluation. It was assumed that the same proportions of children in foster care and residential
care would apply to the 300,000 children in family and friends care. However, there is already a
shortage of 10,000 foster carers so in practice this would be almost impossible to achieve. The
cost calculation does not include the longer-term costs of placing more children in to the care
system (eg. anti-social behaviour, poorer educational attainment, poorer employment
outcomes, imprisonment etc.)
Grandparents Plus is the national charity which champions the vital role of grandparents and
the wider family in children’s lives – especially when they take on the caring role in difficult
family circumstances. They do this by:
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Campaigning for change so that their contribution to children's wellbeing and care is
valued and understood
Providing evidence, policy solutions and training so that they get the services and
support they need to help children thrive
Building alliances and networks so that they can have a voice and support each other,
especially when they become children's full-time carers. The charity runs a Network for
grandparents and other carers who are raising children who no longer live with their
parents.
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Grandparents Association is a membership organisation for grandparents. They provide
services and support to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren and also help those
who have been separated from their grandchildren or have problems with contact.
Family Rights Group is the charity in England and Wales that advises, advocates and campaigns
for families whose children are involved with, or require, social care services. They provide
confidential telephone advice and support for parents and family members, including
grandparents who are raising grandchildren who cannot live at home. They work to increase
the voice children and families have in the services they use, and promote policies and practices
that improve children's lives.
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