Hull Carers Centre meets Prime Minister

Judy May, Manager of Hull Carers Centre, this evening (11 December) joins Hull North MP Diana Johnson on a visit to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.

This visit comes as carers' issues have been moving up the political agenda. Diana Johnson MP joined Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton MP to launch Labour's plans to make pensions fairer, particularly for carers and women. The Government's pension reform announcement has been accompanied by the publication of new research by leading charity Carers UK, which showed that a staggering 8,503 people face new caring responsibilities in Hull each year. A similar number cease caring work every year. The research was released to mark Carers Rights Day on Friday 8 December a national day of action organised by Carers UK to raise awareness of carers' rights and entitlements. The same report also highlighted that many carers - people looking after relatives, friends and neighbours who are caring for disabled, chronically ill and frail relatives were missing out on benefits, practical support and information. Key findings in the report show that 65 per cent did not recognise themselves as carers in the first year of caring: for a third (32 per cent) recognition took over five years. As a consequence, one in three (33 per cent) believed they had missed out on benefits and pension entitlements, the majority (58 per cent) for over three years.

Diana Johnson marked Carers Rights Day on 8 December by paying another visit to Hull Carers Centre in Prospect Street, Hull.

Judy May of Hull Carers' Centre said: "It is great that carers' issues are moving up the agenda and it will be a pleasure to tell the Prime Minister about the work we do at Hull Carers Centre."

Diana Johnson MP said: "It's a pleasure to join Judy in telling the Prime Minister about the work carers do in Hull. Carers are society's unsung heroes and everyone has a duty to make sure that carers know about their rights and entitlements.

"If carers do not get the financial and practical support they need, they suffer from a poor quality of life, cutting back on the essentials they need to get by, and paying a heavy price in terms of their own health and well-being. Too many people still do not know what a carer is, yet they save the economy £57 billion each year.

"Because of the massive contribution that carers make to our society, I am pleased that the Government is acting to improve the position of women and carers in the biggest modernisation of our pensions system since Clement Attlee's post-war Labour Government.

"Many carers are women. At the moment only around a third of women retire with a full state pension. The Government is cutting the number of years needed to build up a full pension entitlement and introducing weekly credits that count towards your pension, if you are caring for children or the seriously disabled.

"Under the changes almost half a million extra women currently aged between 45 and 55 will retire with a full basic state pension. Around a million more people - 90 per cent of them women - will build up entitlement to the State Second Pension. That is great news which will make a big difference to people in Hull coming up to retirement."