Hansard

Thank you very much indeed, Presiding Officer.

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a local councillor, and I was previously employed by Parkinson’s UK.

It is a privilege to open this debate on carers and social care on behalf of Labour. It is a debate that we very much welcome. The provision of social care in Scotland has changed rapidly over the past few years. In its early days, this Parliament introduced landmark legislation, for example to provide for free personal care for the over 65s, but with the introduction of self-directed support, the integration of health and social care and the introduction of legislation to support carers, the way in which social care is delivered will unquestionably change even more in the years ahead. There will be a greater level of personalisation, and the principles of pooled budgets and strategic commissioning across health and social care will become more embedded.

However, it would be wrong to think that this area of public policy is secure and cohesive—far from it. Scotland’s population will change in the next 15 years, with a projected 86 per cent increase in those aged 75 years and over between 2012 and 2037, and a 151 per cent increase in the population aged 85 years and over. With that change, the balance between the tax base and the demand for services will also change. The working population will become smaller and the need for care will grow larger—all against the current backdrop of austerity. More people are living with long-term conditions such as dementia, there are greater numbers with physical health problems caused by Scotland’s obesity crisis, there is a rise in the number of cancer diagnoses and more people than ever before are living with multiple conditions. Whatever else changes in the provision of health and social care over the next few years, those trends will require a significant increase in investment. Part of that investment will need to be directed towards the social care workforce to deal with the current recruitment and retention crisis that we face.

I was instrumental in ensuring that my own council became the first council in Scotland to gain living wage accreditation and I proposed that the living wage be paid to adult social care workers some years ago. Therefore, I welcome the introduction of the living wage for adult social care workers from October last year. I also welcome the commitment to extend that to childcare workers in the private and third sectors who deliver childcare on behalf of local authorities.

There is still unfinished business. Six months since the introduction of the living wage, no deal has yet been agreed for so-called sleepover shifts, so carers who provide overnight support do not receive the living wage. I therefore look forward to the minister updating Parliament on the matter when she sums up at the end of the debate.

We need to build on the living wage not only by having fair pay but by ensuring that all care staff are paid for travel costs and travel time, that no one working in social care is left on a zero-hours contract and that our social care workforce is provided with adequate training and the time to care. Indeed, I commend Unison’s ethical care charter as a template for the fair and ethical employment practices that we would all like to see.

We must ensure that for those who choose to work in social care a proper career structure is developed that connects to professional occupations such as nursing and social work. Furthermore, unpaid carers must be properly recognised as partners in the provision of support. Those carers are the unsung heroes of our country. There are in Scotland nearly 750,000 adult carers and nearly 30,000 young carers dedicating their lives to caring for others—as Alison Johnstone pointed out, they save the Scottish economy £10.8 billion a year because of their selfless care and attention.

Carers Scotland recently reported that a third of those carers are struggling to pay utility bills, 47 per cent have been in debt and half are struggling to make ends meet, cutting back on food and heating as a result. Bringing carers allowance in line with jobseekers allowance would increase a carer’s income by £600 a year. The Scottish Government has had the power to deliver that increase since last September. In March, new powers to overhaul carers and disability benefits were devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Those new powers give us a chance to build a truly fairer Scotland, but we need to move past the warm words of support and on to real action. I hope that the minister, in summing up, will give those carers the certainty and respect that they deserve by telling Parliament when the Government will bring forward plans to top up the carers allowance.

As well as a better deal for those who provide care, we need one for those who receive that care. It is now 14 years since the previous Labour-led Government introduced free personal and nursing care for everyone over the age of 65. Today in Scotland, around 77,000 older people benefit from that policy. However, to use words on the Frank’s law campaign website,

“no disability, illness, condition or disease waits until a person reaches the age of 65, then strikes.”

Across Scotland, 90,000 people are living with dementia, but not all of them are over the age of 65. In fact, more than 3,000 are under the age of 65. As we all know, if any of those 3,000 people require personal care, they are financially assessed by their local authority to determine whether they should make a financial contribution towards that care. Where they live often determines how much they pay. It is the same for other long-term conditions, including motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cancer and many others. In our election manifesto, Scottish Labour made a commitment to work towards the abolition of such care charges for all those under the age of 65—to go beyond Frank’s law. I reiterate that commitment.

I began my speech by saying that health and social care will require a significant increase in investment. That means an end to cuts to local councils. Since 2011, more than £1.5 billion has been cut from council budgets by the Scottish Government. The consequence is a social care system that is already under pressure without the growing demand that we know is on its way.

Last week, Age Scotland revealed that more than 8,500 people a year in Scotland wait longer than six weeks for a care assessment. Scottish Care’s survey showed that three quarters of care homes had vacancies for staff and that 90 per cent of care-at-home and housing support services had positions lying empty. Since the cabinet secretary promised to eradicate delayed discharge in May 2015, 680 people have died in hospital while waiting to be discharged.

We need to stop the cuts to local councils now—all of them, not just some of them. The Parliament can do that. We have the powers to make different choices, to be progressive and to say that, if we want decent social care, we need to fund it properly. That means being honest with the public and saying that those with the broadest shoulders will have to pay more to fund that extra social care.

I move amendment S5M-05312.3, to leave out from “believes that quality” to “control” and insert:

“calls on the Scottish Government to give carers the certainty and respect that they deserve by confirming a date when carers allowance will be increased; believes that quality social care is essential to many people’s health, dignity and control, and expresses concern at the impact on social care of cuts to local government budgets”.