Generous Derbyshire Tories promise that unpaid carers can have one afternoon off every 18 years

Ok so I realise that the title of this blogpost may seem like a cheap dig at Derbyshire Tories but I've just been reading their election manifesto and ............ well ...............read on;

I was rather taken aback with more than one of their claims but this one takes the biscuit:

• Provide 5000 half day breaks to support Derbyshire Carers

It prompted me to do some research and I found that there are 92,763 individuals being looked after by unpaid carers. It took me about an hour to come up with that figure which can be gleaned from here: Observatory Derbyshire Area Profiles Website

Now if we assume that these generous Tories will be making a provision for 5,000 afternoons off per year then by the time of the next election in 2021 there would be 12,763 carers still waiting for their few hours respite.

If however the 5000 afternoons are to be spread over 4 years then the last carer to benefit will have waited over 18 years for their few hours of freedom.

Obviously I am calculating by the number of folk listed as receiving unpaid care which results in these ridiculous assumptions. "Derbyshire County Council provides services to almost 17,000 older, vulnerable and disabled people and supports 21,000 carers across Derbyshire", and here I am quoting the DCC website directly. Perhaps the Tories are targeting the 21,000 with the 5,000 afternoons off. More of this in another post.

Then there is the cost ............ no I'll not go into that ........... I did do some rough estimates but it's all nonsense. Of course carers need respite time off and we all have a part to play in this. If councils were properly funded and not subject to Tory government cuts we could have a meaningful crack at sorting out Care in the Community. Despite those Tory cuts Derbyshire Labour promise to give registered carers free travel throughout the county ............ now that can be delivered.

Of course, none of what the Derbyshire Tories propose adds up ............. it's just an ill thought out election gimmick and will fool nobody. If it took me just one hour to bottom out this nonsense why didn't the Tories check it out before making it an election pledge?

Just one reason why voting Labour ensures that adult care is treated seriously