A campaigner aiming to set up a new carers’ union has called on the UK Government to recognise it.
Leo Cleary wants the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to recognise his fledgling National Unpaid Carers Union and Forum (NUCUF).
Leo Cleary, who wants to set up a union to campaign for carers’ rights
In an email, Cleary said he wants to “be able to openly discuss the situation carers find themselves in with the DWP”.
Seeking more than £81.90 a week
The full-time carer, from Harlow, Essex, wants carers moved onto the minimum wage or to receive a “national package of support”.
They currently receive Carer’s Allowance worth £81.90 per week if they provide a minimum of 35 hours a week of support.
Cleary said the support councils offer varies widely, from respite to financial help.
In an email, he said if all carers withdrew their labour for “one day at a time” it would be “enough to open the eyes” of chancellor Rachel Reeves and prime minister Keir Starmer.
Petition against prosecutions
Cleary started an online petition last year protesting against the UK Government for prosecuting carers over Carer’s Allowance overpayments.
The petition attracted 51,000 backers on change.org
The government has since announced a review of Carer’s Allowance overpayments.
Charity Carers UK has highlighted how carers save the UK Government up to £162 billion a year – almost the equivalent of the NHS’s annual budget of £182 billion in 2022/23.
Need for official recognition
Cleary, 42, who looks after his elderly mother-in-law, has to get recognition from the group he opposes – the DWP.
He said the union now has 100 members.
The campaigner has also set up a crowdfunding page to raise funds for the NUCUF.
He plans to jump out of an aeroplane at 10,000 feet to raise cash.
Autism Eye approached the DWP for comment, but it has yet to respond.
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Published: 9 February 2025
