Carers face a postcode lottery in access to support because of significant variations in the way councils carry out assessments, determine eligibility and allocate resources, a study has found.

The research identified differences between authorities in thresholds for accessing support, the extent to which councils allowed professionals discretion in the way they determined eligibility and in resource allocation systems for determining the size of carer personal budgets. There was also variation in the extent to which councils outsourced the provision of carers’ assessments to external organisations, such as local carers’ centres.