The ALLIANCE warns unpaid carers’ right to breaks may not be realised in practice

ALLIANCE consultation response calls for clearer guidance, sustained investment and local support to make carers' breaks a reality

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the right to breaks and timescales for support plans for unpaid carers. We welcome the intention behind the proposals while calling for stronger guidance, a clearer definition and greater investment to ensure carers can access meaningful support in practice. Without this, the ALLIANCE warns there is a risk the right to breaks becomes difficult to realise in practice.

Drawing on engagement with members, including unpaid carers, professionals and national carer organisations, the ALLIANCE highlights concerns that many carers already face significant barriers to accessing breaks due to limited service provision, workforce shortages, regional inequalities and a lack of suitable replacement care rather than due to the presence or absence of a clearer definition.

The ALLIANCE stresses the need for clearer statutory guidance around what constitutes a “sufficient break”, warning that terms such as “sufficient”, “enough”, and “negative consequence” are inherently subjective. While flexibility is critical to reflect individual circumstances, the response notes that a lack of clarity could lead to inconsistent interpretation and unequal access to support across Scotland.

The response welcomes proposals around the use of breaks lists and improved information for carers. However, the ALLIANCE notes that this approach risks assuming that a consistent range of services are available across the country, when significant regional disparities remain. Alongside calling for sustained investment in services like Carers Centres, we recommend the development of locally tailored breaks lists that accurately reflect what support is available within different regions. Similarly, we also call for lists to be tailored, and relevant, to different carer age ranges with the aim of improving breaks uptake and their value in improving health and wellbeing.

Furthermore, the ALLIANCE have also raised concerns around proposals which define certain activities, including attending medical appointments, as not constituting a break. While agreeing these activities are not breaks in themselves, the response warns that placing them within exclusion lists could unintentionally create further barriers to healthcare access. This would directly undermine the definition of promoting carers health and wellbeing.

Alongside this, the ALLIANCE welcomed proposals to introduce clearer timescales for Adult Support Plans, including support for an eight-week timescale and shorter timescales for young carers. However, the response emphasises that success should not be determined upon meeting timescales to producing plans, but on ensuring support is delivered quickly enough to improve carers’ wellbeing. The ALLIANCE also called for greater flexibility within the system to ensure unpaid carers experiencing urgent or increasing pressures can access timely support, even where they are outside existing and proposed priority pathways.

Overall, the ALLIANCE position is that the right to breaks is a positive and important step forward, but that clearer definitions, consistent implementation and sustainable investment in services and workforce capacity will be essential to making the right meaningful for unpaid carers.

You can find the full response in the resources section below

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