Ross Finnie: Carers need proper support

IT'S estimated that there are 657,000 carers in Scotland, and this statistic means most of us will know a carer. It could be grandparents looking after children, neighbours helping out, or sons and daughters looking after elderly parents.

All provide a vital support and for many it means balancing these commitments with work and family life.

We need to make sure that those who give up their time and sometimes their jobs to care for others need to be cared for themselves. That's where carers centres come in.

I've just visited the Vocal carers centre in Edinburgh and centres in my own patch on the West Coast of Scotland.

The Vocal centre is one of the biggest in Scotland, providing support and advice to over 5,000 carers in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

1,300 new carers approach the centre every year, mostly identified through work with GPs. It's also the only carers centre in Scotland to provide specific counselling for carers.

The message is clear – carers need more than just recognition and a pat on the back.

We've carried out research across the country to find out how much kinship carers were receiving. Using Freedom of Information requests we found that three councils don't pay any kinship care allowance at all and 13 pay less than the 119 target. There's a postcode lottery for kinship carers and that's not fair.

Once again, the Scottish Government has set a central target but has failed to deliver. Once again they're centralising the policy, but localising the blame. The Scottish Government needs to explain to kinship carers why they've broken their promise of a minimum weekly allowance.

Carers week is a great opportunity to reflect on the contribution that carers make to our communities.

With an ageing population, Scotland will depend ever more on care from families and friends in the future. Caring is an issue that will touch all our lives at some point.

Ross Finnie MSP is Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson