Carers in Denbighshire need more support, according to a council report.

The report before councillors on the performance scrutiny committee said just over half of carers in the county felt they were supported in their roles, well below the national average.

And only a quarter ended up with a support plan from the council after they were assessed for one.

It said: “Carers play a pivotal role in supporting vulnerable people to live at home. They often support people with complex and long term care needs, and this can be a challenging and demanding role. Carers contribute 96% of care in the community in Wales (Carers Wales), so looking after their well-being is vital to deliver sustainable social services.

“A breakdown in the caring role due to a reduction in the carer’s resilience is often a precursor to significant packages of care. In Denbighshire, the recent annual Have Your Say survey asked carers whether they felt supported in their caring role, and only 56% answered positively, compared to a national average of 68%.

“Furthermore, of 525 assessments of known carers needs, only 119 (23%) went on to have a support plan. This suggests there is much to do to better support carers and address the taboo of identifying as a carer and accepting the support that’s on offer. A project to address this is in development at the moment.”

The council is rolling out a number of different projects to help improve support for carers.

These include providing extra care housing, making more information available and improving social care services.

The report added: ”In Denbighshire we aim to promote people’s health and well-being and encourage them to remain as independent as possible. In order to do this, we need to work with everyone in the community, to ensure that there are strong support networks in place and ensure people have more involvement in decisions affecting their future wellbeing.

“At the same time, we will continue to make sure that people at risk of abuse or exploitation are safeguarded.”