Doncaster Council 'greatly increased' carers receiving support in 2025

During a meeting of Mayor Ros Jones’ cabinet on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, Councillor Nevett said the council had made great strides in its ambitions to support carers across Doncaster and outlined how the authority plans to continue in 2026.

He said: “A carer is a person who supports someone close to them who needs extra help as they grow older, or due to a disability or health condition. If you support a partner, family member, friend or neighbour who relies on you for help to live their life, you are a carer.

“Carers are from all backgrounds. Carers are of all ages. You can be a carer at the very end of your life, and you can also be a young carer, still at school, who sacrifices your own academic achievement and leisure time to help your mother or your father or your sibling manage their health condition.”

Cllr Nevett said there are many people who do not realise they are carers and are, therefore, unaware of the rights they have.

“This is why Doncaster’s Carers Journey is so important and why I am passionate in supporting it,” he said.

He added: “Carers have the right to be identified if they wish to, and to be recognised both in terms of the huge contribution they bring to Doncaster life and to the barriers they may face themselves.

“Carers have the right for these barriers to be overcome, through better information and advice, through advocacy, through access to support of all kinds that helps them to live their own lives just as they support their loved ones. Carers have the right to connect with opportunities that others take for granted. Carers have the right to wellbeing.”

Cabinet heard how, in 2025, the council had managed to identify more carers and provide more support.

The council’s strategy to supporting carers is shaped alongside people in the city with first hand experience, including Debbie Osbourne, who co-chairs the Carers Strategic Oversight Board and the council’s Carers Action Group.

Ms Osbourne told cabinet: “We’ve done some really good work over the last three years… I do think we have improved a lot on social care over the last few years, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

One of the key priorities outlined by Cllr Nevett at the cabinet meeting was the aim to improve the availability of short breaks which can be offered to local carers.

Phil Holmes, executive director for adults, wellbeing and culture at Doncaster Council, said: “Increasing support to unpaid carers is of paramount importance.

“That’s why the Council has increased staffing in the Council’s Wellbeing Team who have workers present in every Doncaster neighbourhood and who are now identifying, assessing and supporting carers much more quickly to get the information, advice and help they need. This gives us a great foundation to build on in 2026.

“We’re continuing with our ‘Think Carer’ campaign to encourage more unpaid carers to step forward for support and we’re working in partnership alongside other organisations so that carers needs are recognised and understood across the whole of Doncaster.”

The Doncaster Carers Journey 2026 was approved unanimously by the cabinet.