Reacting to the news today from Estyn that young carers aren’t being given the recognition they need in their places of education, a Shadow Minister has highlighted a recent Welsh Conservative campaign.

Commenting, Shadow Minister for Social Care, Children, Young People and Older People, Janet Finch-Saunders, said:

“We recently highlighted to the Welsh Government the sad fact that young carers in Wales are three times more likely to face hardships in accessing education and training. That’s why our recent debate in the Welsh Parliament called on the Welsh Government to make small changes to help our young carers flourish despite their responsibilities.

“We worked alongside the Prince’s Trust to ask the Welsh Government for three new initiatives to improve life for our young carers. We asked for the introduction of a Young Carers ID card, to help public services recognise the role of young carers;  we’ve pledging to create a Young Adult Carers Future Grant of £60 a week to enable access to full time education and training without the threat of losing the carers allowance; and we want to see the introduction of a Green Card scheme to provide all of Wales’ 16 to 24-year-olds with access to unlimited free bus and rail travel.

“We urge the Welsh Government to listen to the calls of Estyn and young carers and swiftly remove the hurdles blocking these people from same access to education as other young people.

“Our calls for change were refused by the Welsh Labour Government, but I hope they listen to these latest observations by the education inspectorate.”

ENDS.

Notes to editors. Recent press release and motion attached detailing our debate.