"Change doesn't have to wait until 2029": carers charity responds to the Prime Minister's social care pledge.
Carefree, the charity that turns vacant hotel rooms into overnight breaks for unpaid carers, has welcomed the Prime Minister's commitment to put plans for social care reform and says the case for improvement is already being proven on the ground.
The Prime Minister has set out a social care system built on NHS principles, where "everyone contributes, everyone is covered", ending the divide between health and social care and shifting towards earlier intervention in communities.
Carefree supports that direction, and says it is already being delivered.
The charity has provided more than 23,000 overnight breaks to full-time unpaid carers by matching them with donated stays. Hotels give rooms that would otherwise go unsold, Carefree verifies eligibility, and the carer pays a £38 admin fee.
An independent evaluation by Just Economics, following HM Treasury Green Book methodology, values every break at £294 to the public purse, the cheapest intervention available at the point a home care arrangement is most likely to fail, before the emergency placement, the hospital admission, the move into residential care.
Carefree is calling for respite to be brought within the scope of Baroness Casey's review, and for the investment needed to scale a model that already works UK-wide. There are 5.7 million unpaid carers in Britain; most never get a night off.
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Notes to editors
Carefree is a UK charity that turns vacant hotel rooms into overnight breaks for full-time unpaid carers, who apply directly or through community partner organisations and pay a £38 admin fee.
It is the only UK-wide provider of overnight respite of this kind.
There are 5.7 million unpaid carers in the UK.
The government defines a full-time unpaid carer as someone giving 35 hours or more a week of regular, vital support to a family member, partner or friend, without a wage or employment contract.
The £294 figure comes from an independent economic evaluation carried out in 2025 by Just Economics, led by Dr Eva Neitzert, previously author of the Cabinet Office's Social Return on Investment Guidance, following HM Treasury Green Book methodology. The full report, A Lifeline, Not a Luxury, is available on request.
For more information or interviews with case studies, Charity CEO or hotel group, contact the team at Carefree.
Charlotte Newman I CEO I charlotte@carefreespace.org I
