DR Iain McNicol is right to call on society to change its attitude to carers (Letters, February 5).

That is the right response to the report by Carers Scotland and Carers UK about the many ways in which carers are being treated unfairly at present ("Investigation reveals plight of carers forced into debt", The Herald, February 4). And Colette Douglas Home was right last October when she called on society to care for carers. And no doubt the same call will be made next June, and next October, and so on. So why does society not respond?

Dr McNicol has written about the difficulties being experienced by families looking after the frail elderly and that is a very serious matter. But the same problems are faced by all carers who look after family members affected by learning disabilities, physical disabilities, disorders such as autism, mental illness, and long-term physical illness, as well as those children who care for a parent, and grandparents who look after children whose own parents cannot look after them.

I have been working with carers since I was first elected to Strathclyde Regional Council in 1982. In those 32 years I am sorry to say that carers' problems have not changed much. Carers still tell me the same stories: about constantly having to fight to get the support they need; about the seeming indifference of a coldly bureaucratic system to the endless struggles of their daily lives; about being faced by professionals' assumption that they always know better than families what needs to be done; about exhaustion, ill health, and the sacrifice of jobs and careers; and about apparently losing the right to a life of their own.

Shortage of money is the practical root of the carers' problems, and is the main explanation of why local authorities are not able to do more to help them. Successive secretaries of state, Scottish Executives and Scottish governments have all underestimated the total amount required to make "care in the community" and now "personalised services" a reality. That will not change until all the political parties, and voters, recognise, with a degree of shame, that what carers have to endure today is rooted in a calculating and shameless exploitation of their love and concern for their afflicted family members.

Dr Christopher Mason,

Glasgow City Council Carers' Champion, City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow.

Your report on the plight of carers should hit a raw nerve. Society owes a great debt of gratitude to those who take on this task day in and day out We also owe a great deal to charities who assist carers. But what we want in Scotland is a society which cares for the vulnerable and needy, a society that does not turn the screws of suffering when a hand of support could be offered.

With regard to fuel poverty, the Government should put pressure on energy suppliers to give reduced tariffs to households with dependants and carers, along with free maintenance arrangements.

The benefits system should be simplified and society should be reaching out and asking what we can do to assist, not handing over a catalogue of forms that need a lawyer to decipher. Benefit advisers should be made available to all who find themselves in this scenario.

Scotland has an ageing population and a root and branch review of services available is required. Going a long way on that road would be welfare being devolved to the Scottish Government so decisions on the needs of carers in Scotland would be addressed by the Government in Scotland.

Catriona C Clark,

52 Hawthorn Drive, Banknock, Falkirk.

MY son has severe learning difficulties and attends Carlton Day Centre, run by Glasgow City Council social work department. He has been given a budget to buy care under the SDS/Personalisation programme that is being rolled out. In the support plan drawn up by the social work department we note that payments from the Independent Living Fund are being used to offset the money that the council will contribute.

The payments from ILF are to allow a carer to take him out into the community. By using this money as part of his support plan the council is reducing the choices which this whole process is supposed to improve. The payments from ILF are for a specific purpose, which is described in the plan as the numbers of hours of care from an approved care provider (not Glasgow's social work department). This financial provision is separate from any social work department support and, therefore, should not be used in any calculation for his personalisation budget. I have been in touch with the Independent Living Fund and find that other people have expressed their concerns, and that ILF is gathering information about the number of people who are affected.

I urge all parties who are in the same position as ourselves to get in touch with the ILF to express their concern.

Bruce Steven,

64 Traquair Drive, Glasgow.