Family carers contribute an estimated £160 bn to our healthcare system, the equivalent of a second NHS.

Up and down the country they work day-in and day-out to support the people they care about.

There are thousands of unpaid carers across Harpenden and Berkhamsted who devote their time to caring for loved ones, often while juggling a job and other commitments.

Without them, our health and care services would be even closer to the brink than they already are; care they provide frees up hospital beds, reduces hospital admissions and takes some of the strain off overstretched NHS services.

However, we’re not doing enough to support family carers. I’ve heard heartbreaking stories of constituents struggling with the toll of caring for loved ones, or with making ends meet after giving up work to do so.

And if they receive Carer’s Allowance this is only £81.90 a week and often carers are unfairly punished for overpayments of Carer’s Allowance due to the £151-a-week earnings cliff edge.

This isn’t how we should treat people who make such significant contributions to our society and health service.

Recognising the value of their work, which we all benefit from, is in everyone’s interests.  

Liberal Democrats have long made clear that we’re pushing for greater support for family carers, which has headlined many of our recent party conferences and our election manifesto.

That’s why, for our first ‘Opposition Day’ since 2009 we chose this important issue as a focus, putting forward a motion calling for the government to review the support family carers receive.

Now that we’re the third biggest party in Parliament we get three Opposition Days yearly – days where we choose the topics Parliament debates and votes on.

I was proud to speak in this debate to highlight the amazing work of family carers both locally and nationwide, and to vote for better support for them.

In our second debate of the day we also called on the government to improve access to GPs, NHS dentists and community pharmacists, which I know is a priority for so many of my constituents.

All in all, our first Opposition Day in over 15 years was a testament to the priorities my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I pledged to uphold – calling for strong action to fix the crisis in our social care and health services.

Our work is undoubtedly only just getting started in this new Parliament, but it was a privilege be a part of these debates.