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Carers bill will be some payback for all they have given

This news post is about 9 years old
 

Legislation securing carers' rights will be a first for Scotland

A new bill enshrining carers’ rights in law for the first time in Scotland has been published.

It will entitle every adult carer in Scotland to their own support plan, with young carers receiving a similar commitment.

The bill, which will go before the Scottish Parliament, has been welcomed by charities which represent carers (see below).

Measures included in the draft legislation will set out the needs of each carer and the help and support they are entitled to.

Society owes those who provide a caring role a massive debt of gratitude

This means they will have a right to receive certain support from their local authority if their needs meet eligibility criteria. The council will also consider whether the support should take the form of, or include, a short break.

Councils will also publish strategies that will focus on identifying needs and the availability of services.

Other measures included in the bill include the establishment of local carer advice and information centres in every local authority area.

The Scottish Government has invested almost £114 million in programmes to support carers. These include £13.7m to fund short breaks, and £28.9 million for health boards to provide direct support to carers.

Jamie Hepburn, minister for health improvement, said: “Society owes those who provide a caring role a massive debt of gratitude. We will probably never be able to do enough to truly reflect the contribution they make, but I believe that the carers bill is an important step towards recognising the huge contribution that carers make to their family, friends, communities, and the wider economy.

“I hope that the measures in this bill will go some way towards allowing carers to balance their caring responsibilities with other things they want to achieve in their lives, helping them to be happier and healthier.

“We’ve made great progress in recent years. The Scottish Government has invested £13.7m for short-breaks for carers and their loved ones, and we’ve put £28.9m into health boards to provide for direct support for carers.

“The carers bill will allow us to accelerate the progress that has been made, and to ensure that the standard of support is provided consistently across the country.”

New carers bill: charities react

Simon Hodgson, director of Carers Scotland, said:

“CarersScotland welcomes this new legislation as a major step forward in recognising how important it is to provide support to current and future carers. As well asestablishing some important new rights we are confident that the debates andconsultations that will happen as the bill progresses through the ScottishParliament will both increase knowledge and raise the profile of the vital roleScotland’s carers play.”

FlorenceBurke, director of Carers’ Trust, said:

“Weare pleased to see that the Scottish Government is committed to supporting carers by introducing new legislation that will ensure carers can access support if they need it. The proposals in the bill will go some way towards ensuring that all carers and young carers, whatever their caring role, can access the help, advice and support they desperately need. We believe that locally based carers’ centres are key to delivering this successfully and are pleased that the proposals recognise the essential contribution of these independent services.”

Don Williamson, chief executive of Shared Care Scotland, said:

“We’vereached an important milestone on an ambitious journey to develop new legislation to improve the support available to carers. There are many details to be debated going forward, but it’s evident from the consultation responses that we all share a common interest in making progress. Now it’s time to focus our effort on working together to deliver the best legislation we can.”