Of the total 376,130 carers supported in 2019-20, 84.1% (316,460) received Direct Support, which includes Direct Payments, Part Direct Payments, Local Authority Managed Personal Budgets, Local Authority Commissioned Support and the provision of Information Advice and other Universal Services or Signposting. This is a slight decrease from the previous year where 86.0% of carers received Direct Support.
The most common support for carers consisted of Information, Advice and other Universal Services or Signposting, with 207,395 carers receiving this as the most intensive form of support during the year (A hierarchy is used to avoid double counting. Those carers who received Direct Payments, Part direct payments, LA managed personal budgets or LA commissioned support may also have received Information advice and other universal services or signposting). This accounted for 55.1% of carers receiving support in 2019-20, down from 54.2% last year.
In addition, 45,960 (12.2%) carers received respite or other forms of carer support delivered to the cared-for person in 2019-20 (the same proportion as 2018-19). The most common example of respite is care arranged by the local authority which might involve the client being placed in a residential setting in order to give the carer a break from their caring responsibilities.