Political Comparison Made Easy

HELPING CARERS AND THE VULNERABLE

We will merge health and social care budgets, placing social care under the control of the NHS. This will remove the incentive to use hospital beds when social care would be a more appropriate (and less costly) alternative. The money saved will be retained in the health and social care budget, leaving us better placed to meet future demand for social care.

We value the contribution made by carers across Scotland and we want to make progress in implementing the National Carers' Strategy to improve services for carers and will provide additional respite care. The integration of social care and NHS services will help identify those in need of extra assistance to care for their loved ones. We will work with the voluntary sector, local authorities and the NHS to improve services for carers.

Please see page 23 of the Scottish Conservative Party manifesto for this policy.

Please also see the Scottish Conservative Party spending plans and the Scottish Conservative Party summary budget which relate to their manifesto.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 08/04/11 (12:04am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Caring for Scotland's three quarters of a million carers

A Caring Nation Action Plan

Scotland has a growing, ageing population and it is in everyone's interest to make sure that resources are used to the maximum and new ways are found to help people who need care. Three quarters of a million people in Scotland act as unpaid carers already, young and old alike.

Across the world, innovations have been developed to bridge the gap between hospital and community care, support self-management and peer support networks.

We will ensure that carers are given better access to information and support services and receive better assistance from local authorities and health boards.

Where appropriate we will change the law to improve support and give carers more control and choice.

A Care for Carers Bill will:
• Give individuals and carers the right to access a range of self-directed care options and the information they need to make an informed decision.
• Strengthen the Carers' Assessment in order to ensure that the carers' life outside of caring is fully recognised.
• Ensure that an assessment for care in one part of the country is "portable" so people can move to be near family without having to go through a lengthy assessment process again.
• Work with local authorities and health boards to introduce a short break entitlement for those in greatest need. Carers with significant caring responsibilities will be entitled to a guaranteed minimum number of hours of respite care.
• Introduce a statutory minimum kinship care allowance and require all local authorities to provide this.
• Introduce a requirement on NHS boards to ensure that information, training and support is provided to all patients and their carers before discharge from hospital and on diagnosis of long term conditions so that carers have all the support they need at the very beginning of their caring role.

There are other non-legislative measures we can take to support carers. We will:
• Take forward the 'Caring Together' and 'Getting it Right for Young Carers' strategies.
• Build upon the existing emotional and psychological support for carers by developing innovative peer support and mentoring schemes in the community, working with carers' organisations and carers themselves.
• Work with schools to develop innovative support for young carers and strengthen their capacity to meet the demand for existing dedicated young carers' services.
• Pilot new ways to support carers to take advantage of our plans for super-fast broadband access, developing telecare's role in community care and carer assessments.
• Work more closely with the UK Government and local government to tackle benefits issues and ensure people are receiving what they're entitled to.

Please see page 63-64 of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party manifesto for this policy.

Retrieved on 08/04/11 (12:19am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Caring for carers

Scotland depends on the work of unpaid carers. Without their support the lives of tens of thousands of Scots would be so much more difficult and there would be significant additional pressures on our public services. We owe it to Scotland's carers not only to get the laws and the guidance right, but also to make sure that words are translated into action on the ground.

Over these next five years we will work to make sure that unpaid carers are treated as partners in the health service and the particular circumstances of young carers is better recognised in our schools. Treatment for those cared for can and will be improved when the knowledge and experience of their carers is fully taken into account, and the SNP government will show leadership on this issue to ensure best practice becomes universal practice.

We want carers themselves to have a more direct voice in the decision making process and will bring forward proposals for an annual "Carers Parliament" which will allow carers themselves to raise the issues that impact most on their lives with MSPs and Scottish Government ministers.

Because we recognise the pressures on unpaid carers, this year's budget includes funding to maintain our commitment to an extra 10,000 weeks' respite provision per year. We will protect this investment over the next five years. We will provide an additional £2 million on top of the £1 million already committed for each of the next four years to provide short breaks for families who have severely disabled children, making our commitment £6 million in total. We will take forward our new Carers and Young Carers Strategy and will continue with our £5 million investment each year in the Carer Information Strategies delivered through the NHS. This provides much-needed support to local carer centres and training for carers. And, because we recognise the pressures on family budgets as a result of higher fuel costs, we will also extend our Energy Assistance Package to people on Carers' Allowance. We will also continue our activity to assist Kinship carers.

We all have a role to play in supporting carers. That's why the SNP will encourage Scotland's business community to play its part too. We will create a new Caring for Carers Employers' Kite-mark. This will recognise those employers who offer the best support to carers, allowing them the flexibility they often need to deliver care at home.

Please see page 16 of the Scottish National Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 16/04/11 (12:50pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

We have extracted this relevant paragraph from the party's health policy

We'll place an emphasis on primary and community care, provided as locally as possible. A well-organised local health service, based on smaller hospitals and services, also provides sustainable local jobs and training. This localised structure of health care would provide better support for paid and unpaid carers.

Please see page 20 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 02/05/11 (10:43pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Delivering social justice

For people who have grown-up in care or in financial hardship, for women struggling to manage the demands of family life, for disabled people and for unpaid and young carers there can be a many obstacles to accessing decent, secure jobs. To help support equity and inclusion during difficult economic times, Scottish Labour will take steps to ensure that the Scottish Future Jobs Fund and modern apprenticeship guarantee are accessible to the full range of Scotland's young people and consider the needs of those who face the most serious challenges in accessing the labour market. We want to ensure no-one is left behind.

We will establish a Fairer Scotland Commission, to consider the most effective action to tackle poverty, equality and social exclusion in Scotland. We will also establish a Scottish Centre for Financial Inclusion to guide the most excluded and vulnerable people through the maze of opportunities and support available to them, so that everyone in Scotland has the means to manage and get the most from their resources. We firmly believe that credit unions play an important role in offering alternative financial services to people living on low incomes and that they protect people when they fall on hard times. Scottish Labour therefore sees a key role for credit unions in our strategy to help lift people out of poverty.

We will deliver robust mechanisms to monitor the progress being made in tackling poverty - particularly child poverty - across Scotland. Scottish Labour is committed to supporting older people in a way that respects their dignity and recognises them as active citizens and not just as recipients of services. We want to challenge isolation at every turn, supporting instead the active participation of older people. We will sustain the concessionary travel scheme and better link it to community transport initiatives. We are also committed to ensuring the needs of older carers of adult children with disabilities are properly identified and addressed.

Scottish Labour recognises the particular role of kinship carers in preventing vulnerable young people going into care and we will establish minimum standards for the assessment and support of children in kinship care. For too long, there has been a postcode lottery in crucial financial and other support for kinship carers. Scottish Labour is committed to sitting down with local authorities and the UK government to resolve this frustrating and unacceptable situation.

We also know that effective support for carers can reduce the need for more expensive care services later on. We recognise the many challenges facing the range of carers in Scotland and want to continue funding pathways for carers' information, recognising the crucial role of carers' centres in providing information and support. We will work to ensure that information for carers continues to be as accessible as possible.

We are committed to supporting grandparents through the Grandparents' Charter and will, amongst other things, ensure that grandparents and other family members are given due consideration in the adoption or fostering process. Scottish Labour will strengthen the range of social work provision to help those who require support and protection in our communities.

Please see page 63-64 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

Retrieved on 08/04/11 (12:37am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto