Strengthening support for unpaid carers: practical guidance for adult social services

To mark Carers Rights Day 2025, this blog brings together a set of key resources designed to help Directors of adult social services, local authorities, and partner organisations strengthen support for unpaid carers. These tools offer practical guidance, examples of good practice, and insights from across the sector to inform local improvement work. Below, we highlight resources from ADASS and the Local Government Association (LGA), along with our vision for ensuring unpaid carers are recognised, valued, and supported in the way they deserve and share a carer story from our Care Can’t Wait campaign. 

The role of unpaid carers  

Unpaid carers play a vital role in providing care and support to family members or friends who may be living with an illness or disability. Often this can be to the detriment of their own health, wellbeing and finances. Our Spring Survey 2025 highlighted that the lack of access to healthcare and health support was rated as a significant factor contributing to carer breakdown by 91% of our Directors in England. Unpaid carers need access to practical and emotional support to enable them to provide good and safe care, as well as looking after their own wellbeing and ensuring they know their rights.  

ADASS’ vision for unpaid carers 

Our vision for unpaid carers is one where they have a choice to provide care and support to family members or friends who draw on care and support. This should be recognised and rewarded with financial, as well as practical and emotional support that takes a holistic view of how needs for care and support impact on unpaid carers or others in their support network. We have set out our proposal in a policy statement for carers, which includes more support on things that matter to carers; a simpler system, set up to help carers; and a new deal for carers so they can all live well, work and care. Below, we look at some of the resources created to support local authorities and social care teams and organisations to support unpaid carers.  

ADASS Supporting Carers Hub 

The ADASS Supporting Carers Hub was launched in 2023 during Beverley Tarka’s (OBE) ADASS presidency. She championed the vital role of informal carers and pushed for meaningful support and recognition of their contributions. The Supporting Carers Hub shares great practice and ideas across England from social care teams and other organisations highlighting the impact on their work to improve support for carers and for teams to learn and adapt these practices in their own communities. 

LGA Improving support for unpaid carers 

The LGA alongside partner organisations have created resources and guidance to support local authorities to improve their local support for unpaid carers and young carers/parent-carers to prepare for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments. The guidance includes a summary of The Care Act 2014 unpaid carers, which sets out the key principles and specific duties for local authorities in supporting unpaid carers. Other resources include guidance to support councils with CQC assurance relating to unpaid carers and a check list. The resources have been developed in partnership with councils, carers organisations, unpaid carers, our Carers Policy Network and regional carer’s leads networks. 

Care Can’t Wait  

Our Care Can’t Wait campaign shares stories of how good adult social care can enable us to live meaningful lives in our homes and communities to help change the way the public and politicians view adult social care and support. In one of the stories, we hear from Jacqui who is a carer for her son Joshua, who has Down Syndrome, autism and very limited speech. Jacqui, who now draws on care and support, was struggling with juggling work and care and eventually had to give up her job. With the right support from her doctor and a Learning Disability Nurse, she learnt a lot about how to support Joshua which made a positive impact on both of their lives. Jacqui has since set up a club with other parent carers to provide activities for disabled adults to have fun.  

As we mark Carers Rights Day, Jacqui and Joshua’s story highlights the difference that good adult social care can make, supporting carers and people who draw on care to have independence, choice and control in their lives. We will be sharing more stories from across the country through our Care Can’t Wait campaign. If you draw on care and support or provide care and would like to share your story, we would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us here.