Standards and Public Appointments Committee, 19 Dec 2006

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Official Report 98KB pdf

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Cross-party Group

Welcome to the 12th—and last—meeting of the committee in 2006. I remind members and visitors to switch off their mobile phones. We have had apologies from Alex Fergusson and Karen Whitefield.

I welcome John Swinney for agenda item 1, on a proposed cross-party group on carers. Under section 8 of the code of conduct for MSPs, a cross-party group is entitled to use that title only if it is accorded recognition by this committee. Members have a copy of the application as well as a cover note. The application has been submitted by Cathy Peattie, the convener of the proposed group. The vice-convener is John Swinney, whom I invite to comment in advance of questions from the committee.

Thank you, convener. It is interesting to be at this end of the table for the first time in my political life. It is quite a fascinating experience. I am here on behalf of the proposed cross-party group on carers, and on behalf of Cathy Peattie, who cannot be here but would have liked to be here to make the comments that I am about to make.

In the past few months, a number of us have had various discussions with representatives of the organisations that advocate on behalf of carers in Scotland. It would be fair to say that the impetus for forming a cross-party group has come essentially from the carers organisations, which are now coming together much more cohesively to articulate a set of objectives that they wish to achieve on behalf of those for whom they speak. The application lists a number of organisations that are involved: Carers Scotland, the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, ShareCare Scotland and Crossroads. There is also a national umbrella alliance of carers organisations. Out of our discussions has come the proposal to establish a cross-party group.

We think that such a group would be useful. Members will be familiar with the debate about support for carers in Scotland. The Executive has commissioned extensive research through the care 21 group, which has considered the particular requirements of carers in a variety of different areas. The Government is assessing how best to advance the recommendations of the group, particularly prior to the spending review in the autumn of next year. The purpose of the cross-party group is essentially to advance a number of the issues that have been raised by the care 21 agenda and by the carers organisations.

All MSPs will be aware of the vigorous representations that we receive from carers organisations and of the clear unmet demand in Scotland. The aspiration of the group is to give some vent to those issues and to make as much progress as we can on behalf of carers and their organisations in Scotland. I shall leave it at that. I am happy to answer any questions.

I do not have a question. As members will see from the papers, I am a member of the group. I support what John Swinney said. In common, probably, with most members in the room, I am associated with my local carers organisations and have been for a number of years, particularly in respect of young carers, but also in relation to carers as part of the wider voluntary sector. I hope that the committee will agree to the establishment of the group, because this is an area of work that does not have another ideal home and which deserves our support.

I am, quite correctly, in the humble position of bottom of the list of members of the proposed group. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the group, but I should declare an interest in the subject. It is a suitable subject for a cross-party group.

There was a cross-party group on carers in the first session of the Parliament. Why has it taken until four months before dissolution to reintroduce it? What do you hope to achieve in the next four months?

I cannot shed a lot of light on the history of the previous cross-party group on carers, but in recent months there has been a great deal of dialogue involving carers organisations and MSPs. In those discussions, which have been much more structured than previously, we have considered the priorities being identified by the carers organisations and how those priorities can be advanced within Parliament. Although dissolution is not terribly far away, a number of the cross-party group's priorities are focused almost entirely on decisions that will be taken in the spending review, on which a lot of preparatory work is under way. The spending review will be influenced by discussions in the Scottish Executive—at civil service level and not just at ministerial level—and it is hoped that we can advance the position of carers as far as possible prior to dissolution.

I imagine that the group will be reconstituted after dissolution, to continue the work that has been started. However, the focus of the cross-party group would be on trying to ensure that the issues that have been raised in the Parliament by the care 21 group can be prioritised within the spending review, whatever the outcome of the election. We would take steps in the remainder of this session to influence that debate, and would continue where we left off once the Parliament has been reconstituted next year.

The proposed membership of the cross-party group complies with rule 2 in section 8.3 of the code of conduct. I take it that members are content to approve the group.

Members indicated agreement.

I will write to the convener of the group, giving our approval. I thank John Swinney for his attendance.