Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 (c. 15)
An Act to place duties on local
authorities and health bodies in respect of carers; and for
connected purposes. [22nd July 2004]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with
the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:—
Duty to inform carers of right to
assessment.
(1) In section 1 of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995
(c. 12)(assessment of ability of carers to provide care), after
subsection (2A) there is inserted—
"(2B) In any case where—
(a) a local authority are carrying out an assessment mentioned in
paragraph (a) of either subsection (1) or subsection (2) above in
relation to the relevant person or (as the case may be) a disabled
child, and
(b) it appears to the local authority that an individual may be
entitled to request (but has not requested) an assessment under the
subsection in question of his ability to provide and to continue to
provide care for the relevant person or the disabled child,
the local authority must inform the individual that he may be so
entitled before they make their decision as to the needs of the
relevant person or the disabled child."
(2) After section 6 of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 (c.
16) there is inserted—
"6A Duty to inform carers of right to assessment
(1) Subsection (2) applies if it appears to a local authority that it
would be required to carry out a carer’s assessment on being asked
to do so by—
(a) the carer, or
(b) a person with parental responsibility for a disabled child ( “the
responsible person”).
(2) The local authority must inform the carer or, as appropriate, the
responsible person that he may be entitled to a carer’s assessment
(but this is subject to subsections (3) and (4)).
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to the carer if the
local authority has previously—
(a) carried out a carer’s assessment for him in relation to the
person cared for,
(b) informed him that he may be entitled to a carer’s assessment in
relation to the person cared for, or
(c) carried out an assessment of him under section 4(3) of the
Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act 2003 in relation to the
person cared for.
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to the responsible
person if the local authority has previously carried out a carer’s
assessment for him in relation to the disabled child or informed him
that he may be entitled to a carer’s assessment in relation to the
disabled child.
(5) In this section “carer’s assessment” means—
(a) in the case of the carer, an assessment under section 1 of his
ability to provide and to continue to provide care for the person
cared for,
(b) in the case of the responsible person, an assessment under
section 6 of his ability to provide and to continue to provide care
for the disabled child."
2 Assessment of carers
(1) In section 1 of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995
(c. 12)(assessment of ability of carers to provide care), after
subsection (2B)(inserted by section 1) there is inserted—
"(2C) An assessment under subsection (1) or (2) above must include
consideration of whether the carer—
(a) works or wishes to work,
(b) is undertaking, or wishes to undertake, education, training or
any leisure activity."
(2) In section 1 of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 (c.
16)(right of carer to assessment), after subsection (3) there is
inserted—
"(3A) An assessment under subsection (1) must include consideration
of whether the carer—
(a) works or wishes to work,
(b) is undertaking, or wishes to undertake, education, training or
any leisure activity."
(3) In section 6 of that Act (assessment of person with parental
responsibility caring for disabled child), after subsection (2)
there is inserted—
"(2A) An assessment under subsection (1) must include consideration
of whether the person with parental responsibility for the child—
(a) works or wishes to work,
(b) is undertaking, or wishes to undertake, education, training or
any leisure activity
3.
Co-operation between authorities
(1) If a local authority requests an authority mentioned in
subsection (5) to assist it in planning the provision of services to
persons—
(a) entitled to an assessment under any of the provisions mentioned
in subsection (4), or
(b) for whom those persons provide, or intend to provide, a
substantial amount of care on a regular basis,
the authority mentioned in subsection (5) must give due
consideration to the request.
(2) Subsection (3) applies if—
(a) under a provision mentioned in subsection (4) a local authority
is assessing, or has assessed, the ability of a person ( “the
carer”) to provide and to continue to provide care for another
person ( “the person cared for”), and
(b) the local authority forms the view that the carer’s ability to
provide and to continue to provide care for the person cared for
might be enhanced by the provision of services (whether for the
carer or the person cared for) by an authority mentioned in
subsection (5).
(3) If the local authority requests such an authority to provide any
such services the authority or person must give due consideration to
the request.
(4) The provisions are—
(a) section 1 of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 (c.
12), and
(b) sections 1 and 6 of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 (c.
16).
(5) The authorities are—
(a) any other local authority,
(b) any local education authority,
(c) any local housing authority, and
(d) any Special Health Authority, Local Health Board, Primary Care
Trust, National Health Service Trust or NHS foundation trust.
(6) Subsections (1) and (3) do not apply in relation to any action
which could be the subject of a request by the local authority to
the authority mentioned in subsection (5) under section 27 of the
Children Act 1989 (c. 41).
(7) In this section—
“local authority” has the same meaning as in section 46 of the
National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19),
“local education authority” has the same meaning as in the Education
Act 1996 (c. 56), and
“local housing authority” has the same meaning as in the Housing Act
1985 (c. 68).
Minor amendment
In Schedule 1 to the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 (c.
42)(which sets out enactments conferring functions referred to each
local authority’s social services committee), at the end there is
inserted—"Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004
Financial provision
There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament any increase
attributable to this Act in the sums payable out of money so
provided by virtue of any other Act.
Short title, commencement and extent
(1) This Act may be cited as the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act
2004.
(2) Apart from this section, this Act comes into force on such day as
may be appointed by order made by statutory instrument.
(3) An order under subsection (2) is to be made—
(a) in relation to England, by the Secretary of State, and
(b) in relation to Wales, by the National Assembly for Wales.
(4) Different days may be appointed for different provisions or for
different purposes.
(5) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument
provide that section 3 of this Act shall have effect in its
application to the Isles of Scilly with such modifications as are
specified in the order.
(6) A statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (5)
shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either
House of Parliament.
(7) This Act extends to England and Wales only.
This section is
© Crown Copyright
The CSCI register and then inspect the
following types of service: care homes that provide personal care or
nursing care (or both); adult placement schemes; domiciliary care
agencies (often known as home care
agencies); nurses agencies, Individuals operating as a sole trader.
To register or find out more please visit our
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