The Government has announced £42.6m to fund local innovation projects that improve the quality and accessibility of adult social care.
The Accelerating Reform Fund includes a previous commitment to provide up to £25m to support unpaid carers, the Department for Health and Social Care said.
It will support projects run by local authorities and Integrated Care Systems partners, who have been invited to register their interest.
In the regions that receive funding, two projects will be supported, one of which will focus on improving services for unpaid carers.
Care England CEO Martin Green said: ‘We hope this injection of funding will help provide some much-needed stability to the sector, and encourage systematic innovative thinking which will directly support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.’
Mr Green said if well used, the fund could help foster ‘an ‘environment of transformation’, but added that it was incumbent on the Government ‘to ensure the funds reach the frontline and do not get caught in the webs of bureaucracy’.
Carers Trust CEO Kirsty McHugh said ‘We know from our network of local carer organisations that innovation is already underway across the country.
‘We’re therefore looking forward to some fruitful collaborations between local authorities, local carer organisations and unpaid family carers themselves in the development and scaling of support which provide unpaid family carers with the help they desperately need.’
