Mark Taylor, Commissioning Manager, to present
Minutes:
Mark Taylor, commissioning manager from children’s and adults’ services, explained that the carer strategy was known as ‘Value and Carers in Southwark’. The team had been working with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to develop the strategy.
Most carers were the informal kind who were carers for family, friends and neighbours in the community. There were about 21,000 carers in the borough, of which about 2,300 were aged under 24. Of those 21,000 carers in Southwark, one in four cared for more than 50 hours per week. Carers were estimated to save the economy in Southwark around £471 million each year.
The aim of the carer strategy was to meet the needs of the carers across the borough by offering appropriate support to those undertaking that role. Some of the existing services available were not taken up by carers and that gap was being looked at. Many young carers were not having the same experiences as some of their peers so part of the aim of the strategy was to ensure that caring did not have too negative an impact on the carer’s childhood. The work on the strategy would lead to an action plan that would go to cabinet in March 2014 for endorsement.
Contact: mark.taylor@southwark.gov.uk or Tel. 020 7525 3513.