The Corporate Director Social Services presented a report which updated Cabinet on the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on people with caring responsibilities and the additional support that has been available during the pandemic.

She provided background on the situation in Bridgend and the challenges faced on a local and national level and the work that had been carried out to support carers in Bridgend. She added that Carers Trust research identified the following challenges to unpaid carers identified across Wales: -

• Not being able to take time away from caring 74%
• Managing stress and responsibility 73%
• Negative impacts on physical and mental health 73%
• Impact on other personal relationships 65%
• Financial impact of additional care costs 53%
• Negative impact on ability to do paid work 50%
• Not having anyone to talk to about caring challenges 46%

The Corporate Director Social Services explained that to support the three ministerial priorities for carers, a £1 million allocation was made to regional carer partnership boards and for 2020-21 an additional £1 million Covid

Support Fund for carers had been established.

The Corporate Director Social Services provided a summary of the support that had been provided by BCBC as well as partner third party organisations which included telephone support service extended to cover seven day, 24 hours with staff available on a rota basis, financial support of up to £300 through the carers emergency grant scheme and over 7000 PPE items distributed to carers throughout the borough. Further information on support provided was listed at section 4 of the report.

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help thanked all the officers and teams involved who had provided support to carers during the pandemic. She asked if the pandemic and lockdown had affected the communication methods towards carers and if so, what could be done to improve this.

The Group Manager – Integrated Community Services explained that at the start of the pandemic, the authority began contacting carers to ensure that they did not feel isolated or unsupported. The Group Manager – Sports & Physical Activity also highlighted a number of support services that had been provided which helped with day-to-day issues.

The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations was pleased to see the work that had been carried out by the teams in BCBC to support carers. The Leader echoed this and stated that it was important that carers were made aware of the support available and could not thank our carers enough for their work in the borough. The Leader asked what work could be done with schools to support young carers.

The Corporate Director Social Services explained that the connection with schools was important and we needed to work closely with them in identifying young carers and the support they need. She stated that the pandemic was likely to continue for at least a few more months and therefore the wellbeing and mental state of young carers was particularly vulnerable during these times and as such some focused work was being carried out to ensure understanding of the impacts for young carers and managing them.

RESOLVED: That the committee noted the information contained within the report.