Meeting of the Parliament 13 March 2025
I pay tribute to Carers Trust for bringing so many young people to the Parliament today. It makes a difference; this is not just a series of speeches. We take the issues away with us and such debates have an impact on the policies that we develop for our parties and on the scrutiny through which we hold the Government to account.
I pay tribute to Paul O’Kane for leading the debate and, in advance of the minister’s final contribution, I give credit to her for the work that she has done in the area. I hope that it encourages her to give an even more positive response in her conclusion.
I have a memory of going to the Broomlee centre, when the Scottish young carers festival was held there. There was face painting, and Christine Grahame, who had come along with me that day, decided that, of all the things to give me, she would paint a black eye on my face, which I carried for the rest of the day. I am sure that that reflected a more permanent physical feature that she would like to put on my face—nevertheless, it was a joyful day and we had great fun.
There are two sides to the personal impact on young people. Jeremy Balfour made the point that young carers grow up quickly and talked about the skills that they gather, the empathy that they develop, the resilience that they have and the multitasking ability that they develop. Those things are a huge upside to what is a very challenging set of circumstances, and they will see the young people well for the rest of their lives, for future job opportunities and for education.
Young carers are under a lot of pressure: I cannot imagine the pressures of growing up, which itself is difficult, but with that extra responsibility. As Martin Whitfield rightly says, young carers do it for the sake of love. Nevertheless, it is quite a sacrifice to make, which is why the Government needs to take extra steps to ensure that we provide the infrastructure and make support available to them. That is why I support all the measures that have been set out today, including on breaks.
We also need to develop understanding across all public services—not just the education system, but every part of our public services. In fact, all of us need to fully understand what it means to be a carer and what we can do to help. We need to have that understanding, as well as making services and extra support available.
My final remark is that this matter is quite personal to the Liberal Democrats. Many will have seen the story about Ed Davey, my party leader, caring for his young son, John, who has been disabled from birth. It is a moving story, and it clearly involves deep feelings. Ed Davey has made it a personal mission to try to change the system on behalf of all carers, whether they are older or young carers. My colleague in North East Fife, Wendy Chamberlain, managed to deliver the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, which entitles workers to leave from work to look after their loved ones.
Those are two small measures, but they are important steps that we all need to engage in to make life a little bit better for those who care for those we love.
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