The fifth Carers Parliament will be held on 2 November 2016 at Herriot Watt University. There are places for two carers from each of the 73 Scottish Parliamentary constituencies. Places will be decided by a ballot, which will be held in late July with successful delegates informed in early August. Click here for further information or to enter your name in the ballot.
Through the Carers (Scotland) Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament, local authorities will have a duty to support carers who meet certain eligibility criteria.
Carers have been very clear in their view that a national framework for eligibility is the only way to avoid the continuing postcode lottery operating throughout Scotland, and the National Carer Organisations (NCOs) are seeking an amendment to The Carers (Scotland) Bill for local authorities to support carers based on national eligibility criteria, rather than local eligibility criteria set by each local authority.
The NCOs have produced a draft Framework for National Eligibility Thresholds which sets out the circumstances in which carers would have a right to a service under The Carers (Scotland) Bill and are seeking views on the Framework which can be downloaded here.
Carers can email their comments to: coalition@carersnet.org or fill in a short survey by following this link .
The closing date for comments is the end of August 2015.