Great expectations: ambitions for family carers in UK parliamentary debates on the Care Bill

The Care Act 2014 amended legislation relating to government responsibilities for adults with care needs. It set out new statutory responsibilities for the support of family or informal carers. As part of a study investigating the impact of the Care Act 2014 on family carers in England, we undertook a contextual literature review, focusing on parliamentary debates available online from Hansard. We describe the content of debates seeking to amend the law relating to carers and aspirations for the proposed reforms. We highlight the role of parliamentary carer champions, as well as carer-related themes and the lack of controversy over this subject.