Labour MP Josh Fenton-Glynn has criticised Calderdale Council's Reform administration over plans to withdraw transport support for young carers attending respite and support sessions from 1 October.
The Calder Valley MP said the change would make it harder for some young carers to reach sessions that provide respite from caring responsibilities, social contact with other young carers and opportunities to influence the services designed to support them.
Fenton-Glynn said:
"Reform cut transport for young carers in Calderdale."
He added that the decision showed where the administration's priorities lay, arguing that young people with significant caring responsibilities should not lose practical support that helps them access services.
Young carers service supports children aged 8 to 18
Calderdale Council's Young Carers Service supports children and young people aged over 8 and under 18 who help care for someone with physical or mental health problems, learning difficulties, or drug and alcohol problems.
The council says the service offers:
"a safe space to meet other young carers" and "respite from their caring role"."
It also provides individual support, advocacy, school-based support and group activity sessions.
Transport can be crucial to accessing support
The council's published young carers information does not itself set out the transport arrangements for these sessions, so Fenton-Glynn's claim that this support will end from 1 October comes from his statement rather than from the public service page.
However, Calderdale's wider transport policies recognise that carers and vulnerable young people can face particular barriers to accessing education and support. Its post-16 transport policy explicitly includes carers and young people at risk of becoming NEET among groups who may qualify for assistance.
Calderdale has previously recognised pressure on carers
The issue comes after Calderdale Council previously acknowledged the contribution and pressures facing unpaid carers.
A cross-party council motion in November 2025 recognised the financial, physical and emotional pressures experienced by carers and committed the council to reviewing the support available locally.
The council's own carers information says support should help people sustain their caring role and notes that young carers are an important part of that wider group.
Fenton-Glynn attacks Reform priorities
Fenton-Glynn framed the transport decision as part of a wider political argument about the priorities of Calderdale's new administration.
He said:
"Politics is the language of priorities, Reform have shown yet again that their priority is not young people who need the council's support."
That is Fenton-Glynn's political assessment rather than an independent finding.
Questions over impact from October
The practical question now is how many young carers currently rely on council-funded transport to reach sessions and what alternative arrangements, if any, will be offered from 1 October.
Fenton-Glynn's argument is that the service itself may remain in place, but withdrawing transport risks making that support less accessible to precisely the young people it is intended to help.
