£88.4 million has been allocated for 2026-27 to councils across Scotland to support unpaid carers and young carers under the Carers Act.
The Carers Act places a range of statutory duties on Local Authorities and Integration Joint Boards to support unpaid carers, which is why funding is allocated each year to specifically help them meet those duties.
However, this funding is not ring-fenced, which means it sits within the wider local government settlement and can, in practice, be redirected elsewhere in the system.
Our own Freedom of Information research in 2024 showed that not all councils were able to account for how their Carers Act funding had been spent.
We therefore welcome the letter issued this week by Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing, to COSLA. The letter reminds councils and Integration Authorities that this funding is intended for carer support, and asks them to allocate it in full for that purpose, as well as calling for greater transparency around how it is being spent locally.
You can read the Minister’s letter to COSLA in full here.
The table below shows how much of the £88.4 million was allocated to each local authority in Scotland for 2026-27.
