• Carers UK research: government needs to recognise the critical role carers play
• Health survey reveals impact of Long Covid on Scots
• Cole-Hamilton comments on Audit Scotland report

Carers UK research: government needs to recognise the critical role carers play

Responding to Carers UK research putting the economic value of care provided by unpaid carers at £184 billion a year, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

I have been a carer most of my life, first for my mum when I was young and now for my severely disabled son John, so I know how challenging it can be, but also how rewarding.

These findings show just how much carers contribute to our society, but also how hard it is for carers to get the support they need.

While the Liberal Democrats helped to secure a new right to carer’s leave, the last Conservative government took carers for granted and left them to fend for themselves. It even hounded thousands of carers for repayments of Carer’s Allowance caused by the DWP’s own broken system.

The government now needs to fully recognise the critical role carers play and end the years of neglect under the Conservatives. That includes helping carers to juggle work with caring responsibilities, by introducing paid carer’s leave and fixing Carer’s Allowance so it doesn’t penalise work.

Health survey reveals impact of Long Covid on Scots

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said the SNP’s response to Long Covid has been ‘almost non-existent’ despite sufferers telling a government health survey about the toll it was taking on their lives.

According to the results of the Scottish Health Survey 2023:

• 8% of adults and 2% of children reported currently having Long Covid.
• This was up from 5% of adults and 1% of children in 2021.
• 1 in 50 adults said that that the condition affects them ‘a lot’, limiting their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

Earlier this year, Cambridge Econometrics published a report, The Economic Impact of Long Covid in the UK, which estimated that Long Covid, ‘may have macroeconomic costs of some £1.5bn of GDP each year’. The report also indicates that, ‘lower employment of around 138,000 by 2030 follows as a consequence’.

Adjusted for Scotland’s share of the UK population, this suggested a yearly economic impact of £120m and 11,000 jobs by 2030.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

Long Covid is alarmingly prevalent across Scotland, but the SNP have provided next to nothing in terms of care and support.

Those with Long Covid can suffer from any number of debilitating symptoms; it’s a huge drain on their health, makes day-to-day tasks a struggle and stops them from getting on in life.

If even a fraction of those who are out of work or working reduced hours because of Long Covid could be helped into recovery, it would be an investment in support that would pay for itself several times over.

Scottish Liberal Democrats would deliver comprehensive and accessible care to everyone living with the condition. We want to see dedicated Long Covid clinics across the country and Scotland-wide access to physiotherapy and multidisciplinary rehab.

Cole-Hamilton comments on Audit Scotland report

Responding to the embargoed report by Audit Scotland that the Scottish Government’s reliance on ‘short-term decisions’ will mean ‘public services will come under further threat,’ and notes the government’s ‘lack of transparency with the Scottish Parliament or the public about the medium-term risks it is facing’, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

When it comes to the SNP’s approach to the public purse, short-term is the watchword.

Ministers don’t have any plan for public services. Instead, they have undermined them by making one expensive blunder after another, from the ferries scandal to selling off the seabed on the cheap.

This report emphasises we need a step change to how public money is spent. That starts with a government that can get the basics right- that can invest in our public services and grow our economy for generations to come.