Chat with Tim Loughton, MP
Live Chat with Tim Loughton, MP on Monday 21st March 2011
Tim Loughton, MP is the Minister for Children in the Department of Education. He joined young carers in a live chat on Monday, 21st March 2011.
Tim heard the experiences of young carers in schools and young carers heard about the steps the government was taking in order to raise awareness about young carers. In between all seriousness, the young people also had a laugh with the Minister who shared his liking for jelly babies!
Tim Loughton MP
Hello everybody! Really pleased to be here and looking forward to your questions. The floor is all yours, what do you want to talk about?
Ewan
We were wondering if you could start by telling us a bit about what your job/role involves, Tim?
Tim Loughton MP
As minister for children, my main responsibilities are: vulnerable children and families, safeguarding, children in care, youth services, sport in schools, and lots of other things. But I have always been very involved in young carers and that is why I have been coming to the young carers festival in Faithorne Manor for most of the last 12 years!
dannie_girl
people on here have talked about that festival
Paige
Tim i was meant to go to that last year!
Tim Loughton MP
if you haven’t been, it’s a really fantastic event with 1000s of carers from all round the country coming together to share their experiences and let their hair down for a weekend in Hampshire. Normally happens in June or July
dannie_girl
what do you actually do though Tim? Do you make rules up and stuff?
Tim Loughton MP
ok, i am an MP so spend a lot of time in the House of Commons where we do make rules and stuff... and also laws but as a minister in the department for education, i am responsible for all the areas i mentioned earlier. And making sure we look after all our kids
Paige
We used to have someone from the council come into school every Monday now they stopped it, do you know why?
Ewan
was that someone for young carers,
Paige
?Paige
yep
Tim Loughton MP
different areas have different ways of doing it, but the important thing is that every school should be aware of the special needs of carers and have a nominated teacher to liaise with the young carers in that school, who knows what he or she is talking about.
Mikkie
What is the government currently doing to support young carers at the moment?
Tim Loughton MP
we recently issued new guidance about how young carers should be more responsive to young carers... and we have given £1.5m to The Princess Royal Trust and The Children’s Society to help promote the fantastic work they do here and soon we are launching an e-learning module in schools to support and increase awareness
Mikkie
Sounds like awareness is on the increase then,
Paige
Do you just work in England or Ireland too?
Tim Loughton MP
I am only direct responsible for young carers in England and it is up to the Welsh assembly and Scottish and Northern Ireland parliaments in the UK to do what they can for young carers
Tim Loughton MP
Yes
Mikkie
but we still have a long way to go
Mikkie
What department do you work for? Young people in general?
Tim Loughton MP
I work for the Department for Education
Mikkie
. My brief covers all children and young peopleMikkie
I feel raising awareness isn’t that much of an issue, more the hands on support young carers recieve.
Tim Loughton MP
Mikkie
are you a young carer at school?
Ewan
That’s interesting,
Mikkie
Mikkie
I’m a young carer at college. Recently left school.
Tim Loughton MP
It sounds as though you’re school/college has done pretty well at recognising the particular challenges facing young carers but a lot of schools are not nearly as good and that’s why we need to do a lot of work
Ewan
Do you think there’s quite a difference between different schools and colleges then?
Mikkie
Sorry I must go now, but I’m pleased the government is doing something about an important issue.
Tim Loughton MP
Paige
are there any particular problems you’ve experienced at school that have made being a young carer more difficult?
Paige
when they write home telling me i don’t finish school until half 5! Knowing i have to get to my nans... does that count Tim?
Tim Loughton MP
Yes, and I can see that could be a real problem. Have you got a specific teacher who you can talk about this with?
Paige
Yep, I had a meeting with them today :)
Tim Loughton MP
What did you talk about?
Paige
Well I can now do catch up in mentor time and Pd lessons so i won’t have to stay back as late.
Ewan
Welcome Shona, glad you came back!
ShonaTBH
Had to. The prospect of talking with a politician was too good to pass up!
Ewan
wow, good to hear it, Shona! Should Tim be pleased or scared? ::laugh
Tim Loughton MP
Why should I be scared? What do you know that I don’t? And what’s with the big specs? ::laugh
Paige
lol!
ShonaTBH
You should be pleased. In ten years, I’ll be in our regional assembly. After that, it’s prime minister. The specs help to hide the bags under my eyes!
Paige
lol shona
Tim Loughton MP
Shona, why wait so long? You will have a lot of competition with some very good UKYP members who came to see me last week
Ewan
Actually - does everyone here know what UKYP is?Tim Loughton MP
It stands for Uk Youth Parliament and has young people elected around the country and once a year, they have a sitting in the House of Commons
Tim Loughton MP
What do you all normally talk about on this website chat?
dannie_girl
food
Paige
food yep
Tim Loughton MP
well, we’re sharing out the jelly babies in my office today, which is the most food I’ve had today!
Ewan
People often talk about what life is like as a young carer - but equally often, it’s a chance to escape and be daft for a while
Paige
i agree:)
dannie_girl
do you bite the heads off first?
Tim Loughton MP
Yes, then I lick their feet! and the black ones are my favourite
dannie_girl
yeah we go from just chatting, to things that really affect us
Tim Loughton MP
Has anybody had particular problems with bullying at school because they were young carers?
Paige
yep..
dannie_girl
I wasn’t like bullied bullied but people did pick me out from others cause of how my brothers act and look
Tim Loughton MP
I’m really concerned about bullying and that is why we’re looking at new initiatives here but what do you think would help most of all?
Paige
Tim you heard of Cybermentors? for bullying help?
Tim Loughton MP
Yes, have they helped you particularly?
Paige
I am a Cybermentor there, they helped me. Now im helping back. With the people ive mentored at least 7 of them was bullyed for being a young carer
Ewan
wow - sounds like it’s quite a big problem....
ShonaTBH
Paige
that’s why a lot of people don’t let it be known that they are one
Tim Loughton MP
Interesting. Did the school take it seriously or do you just think it was ignorance amongst the people doing the bullying and we need to make them more aware of what being a young carer is really all about?
Paige
they didn’t really care, they just say ignore it
Tim Loughton MP
That’s really bad because every school has to have an anti-bullying policy and if they don’t include young carers, then you should report it to the head or governors.
ShonaTBH
Schools aren’t very supportive in this area
Paige
same shona
dannie_girl
i think it depends if you’re at primary or secondary school at college though cause the older you get the more you can do to help yourself against bullying etc
Tim Loughton MP
That’s why this new e-learning module which will go to all schools is really important and that every school has a well-trained teacher who can be the link person with young carers and who understands their problems.
ShonaTBH
My headmistress is fully aware of my responsibilities at home, and my Ema stipulates that I be allowed time out of school to care for family members if needs be. However, if I bring in my note asking out early, then i’m brought into her office and quite literaly interrogated about why im needed home, how long it’ll take, will I be coming back etc etc
Tim Loughton MP
Dannie-girl, if it starts in primary school and they don’t do anything about it, it could really set you back and you could fall behind in your studies, which doesn’t help anyone. So do you think we need to do more in primary schools?
ShonaTBH
Its got to the point where im taking the whole day off instead of just a couple of hours to avoid it then bringing in a note saying i had a headache or something. Hence, my current attendance is sitting at 75%; something they’re hassling me over
Paige
shona, cant you get someone go into the school to talk to her?
ShonaTBH
Paige
i’ve spoken to her myself. But there’s nothing they seem willing to do
Tim Loughton MP
Shona- that’s really unsatisfactory for you and that’s not going to help your education. Is the head teacher the responsible person for young carers? If not, you need to speak to the person who is
dannie_girl
I work in a primary school and I find that children in that age group are more likely to come and tell you if there is a problem or if you ask them they will tell you .... I think you really need to focus on the older children cause there probably less likely to ask for help
ShonaTBH
Like, as part of the geography As course, we have to do fieldwork which involves a residential for 3 nights. that’s not fair on my family to lose me for that long, but they arent helping matters at all. You Have to go (and pay for the privilege)
ShonaTBH
Tim; we dont have anyone responsible for young carers in my school
Paige
what about your tutor shona?
Tim Loughton MP
Is there a young carers service locally who could help you to speak to the local council to get more support?
ShonaTBH
We have one, Barnardos. But it’s based about 80 miles away and I never see my case worker. I’m pretty much on my own
Tim Loughton MP
Shona, tell your head teacher that the Minister says that your school should have a teacher specifically responsible for young carers and if they don’t sort this out, I want to know the reason why.
ShonaTBH
The council have been contacted for several reasons in regards to my family. And they keep quoting that there isn’t any money
dannie_girl
laugh if i walked up to my tutor and says "the minister says ...." i don’t think theyd believe me
ShonaTBH
Tim; maybe it’s just me being ignorant, but surely with them knowing I’m a young carer, and have been since the green age of 11, they’d have told me by now?
ShonaTBH
It’s made me lose total faith in the system
Paige
same dannie
Tim Loughton MP
Do you know many other young carers locally that you could get together with? Shona, it shouldn’t just be a case of money, they should be taking the whole issue more seriously because if they don’t and things go pear shaped, it will cost more them a lot more later on.
Ewan
Shona, we’d be happy to get in touch with your case worker to try and sort something out if you’d like us to - remember you can email us on youngcarers@carers.org
ShonaTBH
There don’t seem to be many others around here. It’s a rural area. You never meet other people as such.
Tim Loughton MP
Dannie-girl: tell them to go onto my website and contact me on my email there and i will reply to them directly. It’s on www.timloughton.com
Tim Loughton MP
Shona, as
Mikkie
was saying earlier, he has had quite good experiences so it shows how it is a bit of a lottery and I want to make sure that all young carers are getting proper support everywhereEwan
Do you think it makes a difference being in a rural area?
ShonaTBH
Ewan
I really do think it does
Paige
it does
Ewan
Tim Loughton MP
Have you been to speak to your local councillor and get him or her involved?
ShonaTBH
I’ve went one better. I did work experience with the leader of the Uup this year and last year. Told him all about it.
Tim Loughton MP
And?
ShonaTBH
He spoke to the western trust, they claimed to have offered respite services and intervention and said the adaption was being considered.
ShonaTBH
We’ve never been offered any of this. And the adaption still hasnt been approved
Tim Loughton MP
It sounds as though you need to keep the MP on the case. Is he your local MP?
ShonaTBH
Next year, im at the age where i should be applying to Uni. But, because there’s a severe void of help, I feel guilty for considering it
Paige
i wrote to my local MP and they didn’t reply...
Ewan
Shona, a lot of young carers feel the same about university, but it’s definitely possible - don’t rule it out. And keep in touch with us about how it’s going!
Tim Loughton MP
Absolutely being a young carer should not stand in the way of you going to university and your local authority should be making sure that you can achieve this goal without being held back by your caring responsibilities and so clearly they need to do more.
Tim Loughton MP
Paige
try your MP again and tell them you’ve spoken to me.
Paige
okay will do :)
ShonaTBH
The fees add to that problem too. As it stands, i give my Ema to mum to buy electricity or pay for the oil. The idea of being So Far in debt terrifies me
Ewan
Just to let everyone know, Tim needs to go in a few minutes (we’ve only booked him until 5:15!)
Tim Loughton MP
Thanks for some really interesting points everybody. I’m sorry I have to go now but I will have a report on what further comments come in and see what we can do about it.
Paige
thank you Tim for coming :) x
Ewan
Well, that’s kind of a mixed note to end on - but it’s been really interesting today! Huge thanks for coming Tim, lots of good issues raised.
ShonaTBH
yes, thank you for coming and listening.
