Meeting of the Parliament 04 February 2016
Again, I am quite happy to reflect on that suggestion. It is essential that we have good guidance that covers all eventualities. I have clearly made the point that the assessment process should be very much focused on the needs of the individual carer. My remarks on amendments 4 and 8, on future care planning, take care of the concerns that have been expressed. If we need to finesse provision through guidance, I am very happy to commit to our seeking to do so. I have also made a wider commitment to engage with carers and their representative organisations, which will help us to get guidance right.
14:30I am happy to say that we will support amendment 14, which was lodged by Rhoda Grant. It is important that carers can access information and advice, when they need it, on the bereavement support services that are available to them in the event of the cared-for person’s death. The information and advice service to which the amendment refers is available to all, including those who have been bereaved, without us having to tinker with the definition of carer, which could cause difficulties elsewhere. I believe that that availability takes care of the reasonable concerns that underlie amendments 24 and 27.
The information and advice service can signpost the excellent bereavement support services that are already generally available. Those include the information pack on “What to do after a death in Scotland: practical advice for times of bereavement”, which has been developed to help people through the first few days of a bereavement and is widely used across the NHS, and the bereavement zone section of the NHS inform website, which offers a lot of a practical advice on what to do after a death and on coping with grief. Both of those services offer specific advice for children and young people, which young carers may find particularly helpful.
On Johann Lamont’s point about income maximisation, that is another role for information and advice services, which I re-emphasise will be available to all, including those who could be defined—and whom I would recognise—as bereaved carers in a general sense but whom we cannot define legally as carers in the bill. National services such as Breathing Space and Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland are available to those who need someone to talk to.
I support amendments 4, 8 and 14. I support the sentiments that were expressed in relation to amendments 24 and 27, but I am concerned about their workability. On that basis, and given the clear commitments that I have set out on guidance and the workability of the other amendments that we are supporting, I respectfully ask Rhoda Grant not to move amendments 24 and 27.