Remember our post the other week about Parent Carers being left out of the Care Bill? It seems absurd that just as parent carers are being placed at the heart of co-producing their children's provision in the forthcoming SEN changes, our rights are being squished by the same government.
Just saw this on Carers UK and as it is such an important issue, I'm repeating it here.
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Time is running out!
The Government is bringing forward some major new rights for carers through the Care Bill and the Children and Families Bill but one group of carers is set to miss out.
Parents of disabled children under 18 will be left with lesser rights as they aren’t included in the Care Bill which covers adults caring for adults or the Children and Families Bill which will bring stronger rights for young carers.
Carers UK is calling for urgent changes to be made to the Children and Families Bill to give equal rights to parent carers and to make sure they are not left behind.
Write to the Minister
We’ve drafted some text that you may find useful when drafting a letter or email to the Minister – Edward Timpson MP, Parliamentary-Under Secretary for Children and Families. You may wish to copy the letter to your MP too. You can download this at the bottom of this page too.
Government Ministers and MPs receive a huge number of standardised campaign letters so anything you can do to personalise your letter by providing personal examples or using your own words will be so much more effective than any standard letter we can give you.
If you will be affected personally, it is so important that you add details of your own circumstances. Be clear on the impact this will have and why it’s unfair.
Don’t forget to include your name and full address with your letter.
Read more information about the campaign for parent carer rights »
How to find and contact your MP: Find out who your MP is and their contact details using the parliament website.
Sent it by post to: Your MPs name, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. Or by email using writetothem.com
Tell us if you get a reply
If your MP replies (and they should) then please send us a copy of the reply. This helps us know if an MP is a potential ally for carers when we are lobbying for a fairer deal for carers. Send your replies to chloe.wright@carersuk.org
Downloads:
The Carers UK site is full of useful information so if you're a parent carer, pop over and take a look.
It's Carers' Rights Day on 29th November. Let's hope we can convince the government not to forget about parent carers rights too.
Tania is an experienced broadcast and print journalist & author. She also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
Tania is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
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