The theme for Carers Week 2025, Caring About Equality, highlights the inequalities facing unpaid carers and the steps needed to create a fairer society for these individuals who contribute so much but remain overlooked and under-supported.
As local government reform gathers pace across the country, we are presented with a rare opportunity to reshape public services in a way that is more inclusive, responsive, and just. But this opportunity comes with a responsibility: to ensure that unpaid carers—those who provide essential support to loved ones—are not left behind.
In West Sussex alone, over 72,000 people identify as unpaid carers. They are the backbone of our communities, saving the UK economy an estimated £184 billion annually. Yet too often, their needs are overlooked in policy decisions and service design. As we face the most significant structural changes to local government in a generation, we must ask: will these reforms deliver equality for carers?
At Carers Support West Sussex, we believe equity means fair, equal and responsive access. It means recognising that carers in rural areas face different barriers than those in urban centres. It means understanding that carers from ethnic minority backgrounds may need culturally tailored support. It means ensuring that carers of all ages, including young carers, are seen, heard, and supported. It means thoughtful and meaningful service design with sustainable financial investment and no postcode lottery.
Our work has shown that when services are designed with carers in mind, outcomes improve. Through our locality-based model, we’ve brought support closer to home—whether that’s hosting drop-ins in local cafés, partnering with GP surgeries, or working with community transport providers to overcome geographic isolation. We’ve also launched targeted initiatives, such as our Refugee and Asylum Seeker Carer Project, to ensure no one is excluded from the support they need.
But we cannot do this alone. Local government reform must embed carer equality into its very fabric. That means:
- Ensuring carers are represented in all stages of planning and decision-making and assessing the impact of policy decisions on them.
- Protecting and enhancing funding for carer support services.
- Mandating carer-friendly practices across health and social care systems.
- Recognising caring as a social determinant of health and addressing the inequalities it creates
Here at Carers Support West Sussex we are already engaging with MPs, NHS leaders, and local councillors to make this case. We’ve seen encouraging signs and a willingness to engage—from commitments to raise carers’ issues in Parliament to collaborative work with the NHS. But we need more than goodwill—we need commitments, and we need action.
As decisions are made in the coming weeks and months, I urge all stakeholders—councillors, commissioners, policymakers—to ask themselves: are we building a system that works for everyone and addresses the needs of the vulnerable, including carers?
Carers may not always have the time or energy to campaign for themselves. That’s why we must do it with and for them.
By Caroline Pope, CEO, Carers Support West Sussex
