Carers fight Council cuts

Breaks for carers

One way carers will be particularly affected by the proposed cuts: among the services affected are carers' breaks - the City Council are planning to close a day respite centre called "CHOICES" -

David Forbes a local carer says, “It has severely crippled carers lives including mine - I did have 22 hours of respite per week when the Choices centre was active - now it's shut - I'm only "entitled" to 7 hours per week.  There is still fuming anger towards the local council and we are running a "vote of no confidence" petition against the leadership”

Local campaign

Campaigners gathered in the streets to fight the decision, and took their protest to the Scottish Parliament.  Margot Fairclough, a carer for her son, took part in the march and has lobbied MSPs about the cuts. She feels that the decision “forces friends, family and charities to fill the gap, which should be covered by the Council.”

There has also been considerable media coverage of the cuts -  carer have taken part in radio interviews for Scotland-wide stations,  as well as participating in public debates, meetings and rallies.  Disabled groups in Aberdeen are set to take legal action against the city council over its multi-million pound budget cuts. 

Read more

Petition

David has recently started a petition to gather support – you can back his campaign here

Media coverage:

Scottish Television

Scotsman newspaper

Information about carers rights

To find out more about your rights and the ways in which you can challenge decisions about the level of services provided to the person you care for, read Carers Uk's guide “Carers and their Rights” - more...

Carers Scotland has produced a similar guide to carers' rights in Scotland - more...

Carers can also get their their local authority to prioritise carers' needs when they are planning services - see our guide to the 2007 Spending Review - more...