• Carers and their Rights - the law relating to Carers   produced by Luke Clements, in conjunction with Action for Carers and Employment National (ACE) and Carers UK outlines the principle rights of Carers to support from the health and social services authorities. Its publication coincides with the Government Guidance on the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. The guide is updated on a quarterly basis and republished in pdf format. You may order a copy of the guide complete with other materials to support the publication by e mailing mark.murphy@carersuk.org

• Practice Guide 5: Implementing the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 (pdf document) This is the practice guide for Implementing the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. The Guide has been published by Social Care Institute for Excellence

• View Action for Carers (Surrey) Report and Financial Statement. Click here 

• Carers and Disabled Children's Act 2000 and Carers (Equal Opportunities Act 2004 Combined Policy Guidance (pdf document) Issued by the Department of Health August 2005

• The NHS and responsibilities under the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 (pdf document) The document has been published by Carers UK and outlines what the NHS has to do do to meet the obligations within the Act.

• Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 Practice Guideance (pdf document)

• Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 Policy Guidance (pdf document)

• Valuing Families (A toolkit for family friendly services)  (PDF Document) Valuing People said that the family carers of people with learning disabilities needed better and more support. The main objectives are: 1. Assessing the needs of carers and putting in place the services required.2. Establishing a complete picture of the number of older carers (i.e. those aged 70 and over) in the local area in order to plan services in partnership with them. 3. Providing services and support that meet the needs of carers from minority ethnic communities. 4. Making sure all agencies work in partnership with carers, recognising that carers themselves have needs which are considered. This toolkit is designed to help Partnership Boards do this work. Other people working with family carers will find useful ideas in it. Family carers could use it to check how well their local services are doing. The toolkit brings together what Valuing People said should be happening for family carers with information about the Government’s policy on carers: The Carers’ Strategy. It is not a new policy document but a summary of things that should be already happening for families. To help put policy into practice the toolkit is full of practical ‘tools’. These include guidelines for good practice and examples of work with family carers from around the country.

• Can We Afford Not To Care? - Produced by The Equal Opportunities Commission outlines the benefits of encouraging parents and carers back into the labour force with employers adopting parent and carer friendly employment practices.

• Young Carers Resource Pack For Schools - The pack contains materials for Key Stages 2 and 3. The materials are designed as a half term (6 weeks) module of lessons to be integrated into schools’ existing Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) programmes. In addition to the lesson materials the pack contains background information for teachers and suggestions for supporting known young carers within school. 

• Surrey County Councils Fair Access To Care Services Eligibility Policy For Adult Services - This detailed document gives details of this wide ranging policy (PDF)

• Carers & Disabled Children's Act - The act came into force in England and Wales in 2000.

• The Regulatory Reform (Carers Allowance) order 2002 - Change of name for Invalid Care Allowance

• Carers and Recognition and Services Act 1995 - Provided Carers for the first time the right of an assessment.

last updated July 2011