CARERS WEEK IN WALES

That this House congratulates the Carers Week partnership in Wales for the 2016 Carers Week and its Building Carer Friendly Communities report, highlighting the combination of inadequate support and lack of awareness from communities damaging the life chances of Wales’ 370,000 carers; notes the report’s findings that two thirds of carers have given up work or reduced their hours to provide care, that half of carers struggle financially, that half of carers have let health issues go untreated, that one in three carers only gets help when it is an emergency and that almost half of carers say their mental health has got worse; further notes that every year in Wales 123,000 people become carers saving the Welsh economy £8.1 billion per year; notes that a majority of carers provide over 50 hours of care per week; and calls on all levels of government to recognise the important role of carers, to ensure that adequate support is available and that public awareness of the importance of carers to local communities is improved.