Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004
This Act gives the Local Authority a duty to carry out an assessment of a carer¡¦s ability to provide care for a disabled person who is over 18. The carer must be over 16 and will have to ask the Local Authority to carry out the assessment. This assessment will be coordinated with the findings of the assessment under the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act, 1995, and the Local Authority will decide whether the carer has needsin relation to the care that they provide. If the assessment demonstrates that the carer does have needs, the Local Authority has the power, but not a duty, to provide services to the carer rather than to the person who is in receipt of care.