Glasgow Scottish National Party MSP, Bob Doris, has pledged his support for Scotland’s unpaid carers and young carers during a visit from Scotland’s National Carer Organisations (NCO) to the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Doris met representatives from The Princess Royal Trust for Scotland, the Coalition of Carers in Scotland, Carers Scotland, Crossroads Caring Scotland, the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance and Shared Care Scotland on Thursday October 28th as they launched their election manifesto for 2011.

The Scottish Carers’ manifesto is being published ahead of next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections, highlighting the economic and social necessity of supporting carers. Scotland’s carer organisations are deeply concerned that cuts to the public sector will impact on services supporting carers, such as funding for Carers’ Centres and respite from caring.

There are almost 660,000 carers and 100,000 young carers in Scotland (1 in 8 of the population) – more than the total health and social care workforce. Replacing the care provided by carers and young carers would cost £7.68 billion a year. Carer’s Allowance is the lowest benefit of its kind – full time carers receive only £53.90 a week, less than £1 an hour.

Mr Doris, who took part in a Scottish Government led debate on carers at Parliament, commented: “We all owe a tremendous debt to the army of unpaid carers in Scotland who continue to sacrifice their own time in the care of others. As in any job, these carers have a right to live lives of their own, including regular breaks, and we need to better support those young carers who carry a burden which is inappropriate to their age.

The manifesto for carers’ rights says Scotland’s carers need support to help them in their caring role, regular breaks and a life outside of caring. Scotland’s young carers, it states, should have the right to be children and young people first, have the same opportunities as their peers and reach their full potential.

Bob Doris added: “Unpaid carers are estimated to save the Scottish economy an estimated £7.68 billion per year, and they play a central role in the healthcare of the nation. The SNP Government has set out in the Caring Together strategy to recognise and support unpaid carers as never before, and we must be mindful of the increasingly important contribution they make as the age of the Scottish population sets to increase dramatically in the years ahead.

Notes:

You can view the full Carers Manifesto here.

FACTS ABOUT CARING

• 1 in 8 of the population is a carer
  
• There are almost 660,000 carers in Scotland; more than 115,000 people care for someone for more than 50 hours a week
• There are more than 100,000 young carers in Scotland, aged from 3 to 18 years of age, with 21% of that figure caring from 30-39 hours a week
• There are more carers than the total health and social care workforce
  
• Replacing the care provided by unpaid carers would cost thee-quarters of the total NHS budget in Scotland (£7.68 billion a year)
• By 2025, the economy will need to draw another 200,000 people into the workforce. We can’t afford to lose carers from the labour market.