Call for views on the Carers (Scotland) Bill
Stage 1 consideration by the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee
Remit
On 25 March 2015, the Health and Sport Committee launched a call for written views to inform its consideration of the Carers (Scotland) Bill.
This Scottish Government Bill was introduced on 9 March 2015 and the Health and Sport Committee has been designated as lead committee for consideration of it at Stage 1.
As stated in the accompanying policy memorandum, it is the intention of the Scottish Government that Scotland‘s estimated 745,000 adult carers and 44,000 young carers should be better supported on a more consistent basis so that they can continue to care, if they so wish, in good health and to have a life alongside caring.
In relation to young carers, the intention is similar to that for adult carers but that young carers should have a childhood similar to their non-carer peers. The objective of the Bill is to make real this ambition by furthering the rights of both adult and young carers.
The Bill makes a series of provisions about carers, who are defined as individuals (both adults and children) who provide or intend to provide care to other individuals. In particular the Bill—
· sets out the key definitions of adult carers and young carers for the purposes of the Bill;
· makes provision for the preparation of adult carer support plans, which involve identifying the needs and support to be provided to adult carers;
· makes provision for the preparation of young carer statements, which involves identifying the needs and support to be provided to young carers;
· places a duty on local authorities to provide support to carers where local eligibility criteria (to be set by local authorities) are met, including the provision of short breaks;
· makes provision for national eligibility criteria to be set (if the local eligibility criteria appear not to be working);
· requires local authorities and health boards to involve carers in the carer services that they provide;
· requires local authorities to prepare and publish local strategies concerning, among other things, the support they intend to provide to carers;
· requires local authorities to establish and maintain an information and advice service for carers;
· makes provision for local authorities to charge for services to carers.
The Bill and accompanying documents can be viewed on the Parliament’s website at—
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/86987.aspx
What information is the Committee looking for?
Please address the following questions in your submission—
- Do you support the Bill?
- What do you feel would be the benefits of the provisions set out in the Bill?
- How do you feel the Bill could be amended or strengthened?
- Is there anything that you would add to the Bill?
- Is there anything that you would remove from the Bill?
How to submit your evidence
Before responding to the questions above, please read our Policy on Treatment of Written Evidence by Subject and Mandatory Committees.
Although any length of response will be gratefully received by the Committee, submissions should not normally exceed around 2,000 words in total.
Please send your views on the Bill to the Committee by Wednesday 22 April 2015.
Responses should be sent, wherever possible, electronically and in MS Word format to:
[email protected]
Hard copy responses may be sent to:
Health and Sport Committee, T3.60, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP
All written evidence received may be published by the Parliament and will be treated as a public document. If you wish to submit evidence in confidence or anonymously please read the policy at the link above.
What happens next?
The Committee will be considering those witnesses it wishes to hear oral evidence from in due course, based on a thematic approach to the Bill and also informed by the written evidence received. Stage 1 oral evidence sessions are likely to take place during May and June 2015.
Contact
Should you require alternative formats of this information or further assistance in making a written submission to the Committee, please do not hesitate to contact the clerking team of the Committee.
For Committee information, contact: Andrew Howlett, tel 0131 348 5410, email: [email protected]
For further information, the media contact is: Kirsty Rimmer, tel 0131 348 6085 email: [email protected]
For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000
For general enquiries, contact: 0845 278 1999 (local call rate), email: [email protected]