CARERS who look after disabled, sick friends or relatives will be dependent on a postcode lottery of support under new laws meant to give them greater protection, according to campaigners.
The proposed legislation will make local authorities legally obliged to provide carers with support if they require it, but campaigners have warned it does not state who will qualify.
Councils say cuts have left them without the funds to support Scotland's 759,000 carers who look after a relative, friend or neighbour.
Two groups of campaigners have come together to back an amendment by Labour politician Rhoda Grant that national rules should be in place to identify who is eligible for support.
The Coalition of Carers in Scotland (CCS) and the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (Alliance) are backing the proposed change to the Scottish Government's Carers Bill as its reaches its third stage at Holyrood today.
CCS coordinator Claire Cairns said carers wanted proper Scotland-wide rules making it clear that someone should be helped if their health, finances or relationship are at risk due to their caring role.
She claimed that without the changes there will inevitably be different support for people in different parts of the country.
Ms Cairns said: "We have argued there should be national criteria, otherwise there will be 32 different systems. Carers have been very clear that they want clear national eligibility and some have gone as far as to say the Bill won't work for them without this."
The 759,000 Scots caring for a relative, friend or neighbour is estimated to include 29,000 aged under 16, collectively saving the economy £10.8bn a year.
It is currently up to local authorities to decide who receives support, but councils say cuts have left them without the funds to support carers and oppose a national system setting out who is eligible for services.
A national system proposed by Scotland's national carer organisations would see carers receiving support automatically if there is a risk that they can't pay household bills, or that their relationships or employment might break down or their health might suffer, for example.
If caring is already affecting their health, finances, jobs or relationships, councils should have a legal duty to help, it says.
Alliance also says criteria for eligibility should be nationally set. A spokeswoman said: "We are concerned that the proposed introduction of eligibility criteria defined locally by local authorities will lead to a postcode lottery of support for carers across Scotland.
"We do not believe that there is any justification for a variation in the levels of need which trigger an entitlement to carer support. The introduction of a duty to support carers linked to eligibility criteria is the gateway to new rights for carers. In light of this, these must be clear rights available to all, not at the discretion of local criteria."
Both groups are supporting Ms Grant's amendment which says Scottish ministers should specify who is eligible for help.
It is local authorities to decide which carers receive help and councils oppose a national system setting out who is eligible for services.
However a spokesman for Cosla, which speaks for the vast majority of Scottish councils said: "We all want to better-support carers, but the truth is that significant questions remain over how this Carers Bill will be paid for.
"To contemplate creating an additional national entitlement at this stage not only undermines councils’ democratic responsibility for the use of resources, it begs further questions about where the money is going to come from."
He said Cosla had been clear about the likely impact of £350 million worth of cuts faced by local authorities. "Even although the Bill would not come into force until 2017/18, unless we see a very, very different local government settlement at the time the Bill is enacted, new entitlements for carers will simply draw resource away from other areas – and there is no low-hanging fruit left – people and communities will really feel the impact of the cuts handed down by the Scottish Government.”
The amendment to the Bill is being proposed by Labour's Rhoda Grant.
Ms Grant said:
“During the bill process, it is clear that carers need clarity on what support and services they are entitled to because too often they have to fight to receive any support due to financial pressure in Local Authorities.
“Whilst I welcome the new rights in this bill for carers, it is vital that carers are able to access them and that Councils have the funding to implement them. We cannot allow local eligibility to be a way by which we ration support. Local authorities have expressed concern over the budget for this Bill and I share their concerns. We need this Bill to be fully funded to ensure that carers get the support need and deserve.”
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