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JERSEY’S government needs to urgently recognise the role of unpaid carers in the Island, a support network has said, amid wider calls to make more support available to those looking after loved ones. In a statement, Carers Jersey said it was “extremely disappointing that there is no established proven recognition or genuine acknowledgment of unpaid carers”. On Saturday, the JEP launched its #TimetoCare campaign, backing campaigner Mark Jones’s renewed call for the removal of legislation that prevents the home carer’s allowance – currently £1,183 paid every four weeks – from being issued alongside other benefits such as an old-age pension. Carers Jersey has described the rule as “discriminatory” and warned that it is placing some Islanders in “an impossible, untenable situation”. And the support network has stated that the Island needs to “urgently establish a firm definition of an unpaid carer” that would be included in related legislation. “This piece of work, to date, has not been undertaken despite suggested draft legislation having been provided to the Government of Jersey,” the statement continued. In 2023, Luke Clements, a professor of law at Leeds University, spoke at a Carers Jersey event. He argued that an initial “recognition statute”, providing formal acknowledgement of unpaid carers carers and the significance of their role, would be a “modest” first step the government could take with relative ease. Following the launch of the #TimetoCare campaign, Social Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham stated that she has “directed officers to undertake an urgent review of the range of support available”. The minister explained that this work would include “looking at increased support and, if required, legislative change”. The Carers Jersey statement also contended that: “It has been been made clear already what the costs would be to the Island if these carers stopped caring or became so ill they would be unable to care. “The implications on the health service are vast. Prevention is not only preferable to cure but crucial. “We will, hopefully make some progress in the coming months.” It has previously been estimated that there are more than 5,000 Islanders providing unpaid care to family or friends.
