“They save Welsh Government £10 billion a year, but their statutory rights on accessing support are not being sufficiently upheld” – Sioned Williams MS
The Senedd has today (Wednesday 5 February 2025) voted in favour of more support for unpaid carers.
Sioned Williams MS, who represents South Wales West in the Senedd, brought forward a proposal for a Bill on ensuring recognition and support for unpaid carers, following research by Carers Wales that showed carers are not receiving the support they’re entitled to.
Despite all carers having a legal right to a Carer’s Needs Assessment, under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, reports have shown that only between 0.3% and 8% of carers who need an assessment are receiving one.
Rob Simkins, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at Carers Wales welcomed the debate and said that “the changes unpaid carers need to see cannot happen fast enough.”
The motion overwhelmingly passed which indicates the level of support for better measures to implement the Act.
Sioned Williams MS, Plaid Cymru Member of Senedd for South Wales West, said:
“At the last count, unpaid carers save Welsh Government £10 billion a year through providing care that would otherwise be picked up by health and social care services. However, their value to those they provide care for is immeasurable.
“In many ways, the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 was groundbreaking in enshrining the rights of carers into law. But sadly the rhetoric does not match the reality and too few of our carers are benefiting from the rights that have been granted them.
“The bill I proposed would ensure that Welsh Government take steps to address the multitude of current failings evidenced by many reports around the 2014 Act’s implementation.”
Rob Simkins, Head of Policy & Public Affairs, Carers Wales said:
“We welcome this debate and the recognition that far too many unpaid carers in Wales are not seeing their rights under the Act fulfilled, as evidenced in our Track the Act report released last year. While good work is ongoing to tackle these issues, the changes unpaid carers need to see cannot happen fast enough.
“We hope today's debate can help everyone re-double their efforts and direct resource into providing better support for the hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers across Wales. We owe it to them to do better.”