Meeting of the Parliament 04 February 2016
I appreciate that the minister has put that on the record. I never doubted that he would mention the commitment to review the approach, which he made in good faith. I am glad to hear the minister’s words. The goal should be to ensure that a minimum level of service is provided and that carers across Scotland are not in any way victims of a postcode lottery. I am glad that the minister will keep an eye on that.
I was wary of Rhoda Grant’s amendment on the scrutiny of support services that are provided to carers. The national carer organisations said,
“We would caution that amendment 38 would be difficult to implement”,
so I am glad that it was not moved.
The national carer organisations also noted that through the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2013 there are multiple channels to monitor carers’ experiences and an extra layer of inspection is not needed. If we were to add that extra layer of inspection, we would also have to provide support and back-up for that work. I identified that issue in relation to amendment 43, which was withdrawn. We know that the budgets of councils and other public bodies are being cut, which is adding more responsibilities to already stretched resources, so it would not have been wise to pass amendment 43. Although the ability to invite every person on the register of carers for an annual health check would have been welcome in principle, we needed to be realistic. The register would exist only for those willing to self-identify and who agreed to their registration. Trying to fulfil the register’s positive purpose would risk the diversion of resources from where they are needed most.
I am glad that we have reached this stage of the Carers (Scotland) Bill and I hope that it will be passed. We will certainly support it. Its implementation will be swift and straightforward and it will benefit all those whom it seeks to help.
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