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Meeting of the Parliament 28 October 2010

28 Oct 2010 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Carers and Young Carers Strategy

Doris, Bob SNP Glasgow Watch on SPTV

Over the years, we have gradually continued to get a better picture of the job that unpaid carers do in Scotland, and of the scale of that job, and we continue to increase the recognition that we give them. That is something on which there has been cross-party support over the years—even though I joined the Parliament only in 2007, I am conscious that that has been the case since 1999, and I am glad that it continues today.

With pressures on the public purse like never before, we must be careful not to allow short-term thinking to intrude on our political decisions in relation to care. We need a long-term strategy that will support those remarkable people now and in the future. Estimates suggest that as many as one in eight of the population care for someone on a voluntary basis and that there are more than 66,000 unpaid carers in Glasgow, the area that I represent. Those figures are likely to rocket in the years ahead, and it is predicted that as many as 1 million people in Scotland will be performing a caring role by 2037. Such statistics show why it is important that we get this right for the long term.

There is little dispute that we have an aging population, and I have already given an idea of the projections associated with that. A further projection is that there will be a 144 per cent increase by 2031 in the number of people who are aged 85 or over. Where possible, we want to keep people at home and in the community, and we will need unpaid carers to help in that regard. That means that we have to take action now, and the strategy that is set out in the “Caring Together” document outlines the thinking and plans in that regard of the Scottish Government and COSLA up to 2015. I think that we are on the right track and are moving forward in relation to that.

I also hope that we will gain cross-party support in opposing some of the more harmful aspects of the UK Government’s cuts, which could jeopardise carers. I say that not to make a party-political point. If we are to support carers, we have to consider all the aspects that affect them. Earlier this month, even before the spending review was announced, the think tank, Demos, claimed that disabled people and carers could lose up to £9.2 billion by 2015 due to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat UK Government linking benefits to the consumer prices index rather than the retail prices index. It also said that families with disabled children in which one of the adults is also disabled and is cared for by their partner could lose up to £3,000. There are hidden dangers in such proposals, and the Scottish Parliament does not necessarily have the power to protect carers in that regard.

I will not say more about the UK situation, as I want to forge cross-party support, but we have to be aware of where all of the balls are on the pool table when we take a shot to help carers. We cannot miss that out.

I want to spend the rest of my speech talking about kinship carers, which is a subject that is close to my heart. I am sure that Mary Scanlon will gladly recognise that kinship carers got no structured formal payments before May 2007 and will come on board with the structure that is now in place. That structure has to be improved and made more sophisticated. I am delighted to say to Ms Scanlon that the Labour Party is moving forward in a spirit of consensus in relation to kinship care. At lunch time, I was at an event with Johann Lamont and neither of us was trying to blame the other for having a worse record in relation to kinship care. Instead, we were trying to find solutions that can be used to take forward the situation. One such solution was getting the UK Government on board in relation to kinship care.

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Meeting of the Parliament 28 October 2010

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