A recent Freedom of Information request undertaken by the Coalition of Carers in Scotland has shown that there is a lack of transparency over how the Carers Act funding is allocated by local authorities.
Since 2018, local authorities have received funding each year to implement the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 and expand local carer support services. This now amounts to £88.4m per year being distributed to local authorities.
Feedback from carers and carer organisations suggests that there is very little transparency over how the Carers Act funding is being spent locally.
Through a Freedom of Information request, the Coalition of Carers in Scotland asked Local Authorities to provide a breakdown of what they spent this money on in 2022 to 2023.
What We Found
- There is a lack of accountability and transparency in relation to Carers Act Funding. As Carers Act funding is not ringfenced, local Partnerships and the Scottish Government are not tracking spending
- The actual spend accounted for in returns was up to £19m less than the money awarded
Our Recommendations
- Provide significantly more funding directly to third sector organisations (including Carer Centres) to expand and develop services to support unpaid carers, including a wider range of short breaks opportunities
- Ring-fence Carers Act funding and develop consistent budget headings for use by all local areas.
- Develop financial reporting processes to ensure robust tracking, monitoring and forecasting of spend under each budget heading.
- Ensure HSCP Annual Performance Reports provide details of support for carers / Carers Act implementation and Annual Accounts provide figures for Carers Act funding, to improve transparent reporting of impact and spend.
A copy of the full report can be downloaded from here.
