Carers Parliament

The first annual Carers Parliament was held on 1 October 2012 at Holyrood.

Carers Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government and in partnership with the national carer organisations, organise an annual Carers Parliament for carers from all across Scotland.

The first Carers Parliament was held on 1 October 2012 and the most recent will be held on 4, 5 and 7 October 2021

In this section, you can download reports and watch video from earlier events.

Carers Parliament 2021

Carers Parliament 2021 - Delegate briefings

Hopin platform briefing for delegates - discussion sessions (word)

Hopin platform briefing for delegates - discussion sessions (PDF)

Hopin platform briefing for delegates - main event (word)

Hopin platform briefing for delegates - main event (PDF)

National Carer Organisations overview briefing on consultation for a national care service. Click here to download.

National Carer Organisations briefing on national care service. Click here to download.

National Carer Organisations briefing on a right to respite. Click here to download.

National Carer Organisations briefing on the national care service consultation for young carers. Click here to download.

This year's Carers Parliament will again be a virtual event and will be held on Hopin on 4, 5 and 7 October. The focus of the event is ensuring that carers and young carers voices are heard in the consultation about a national care service and future developments in social care. There will also be discussion about the development of a new Scottish Carer's Assistance which will replace Carer's Allowance for carers in Scotland in future. You can read more about the National Care Service consultation You can read the consultation (easy read version) here and the full proposals here. An easy read version is available here.

We know that there are many demands on carers' times so you can register for individual or multiple events and do not need to attend all days - just pick what fits in with you.

Day One and Two (4th and 5th October)

These were two days of discussion sessions about the national care service: improving care, complaints and putting things right, health and social care working better today and improving support for people with protected characteristics, older people, young carers and those with mental health problems. Carers also took part in two discussions about the next steps in developing a new Scottish Carer's Assistance.

Day One (4 October)

Day Two (5 October)

National Care Service: making it work for young carers and young adult carers. Registration Closed.

Day Three (7 October)

Day three will be the main plenary session where we will hear from carer and young carer speakers, Ministers and we will host a Q & A panel including Kevin Stewart, Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care, Councillor Stuart Currie Spokesperson on Health and Social Care from COSLA, Shubhanna Hussain-Ahmed a carer from the Social Covenant Steering Group helping to guide the development of the National Care Service and a representative from the third sector. This event will run from 10.30am and finish at 1pm.

Again you can register for this event individually or in conjunction with one or more of the discussion sessions on day one and day two. Registration Closed.

Following the plenary session, from 1pm-3pm we will be hosting a marketplace where you can view virtual stalls from a range of organisations. More information to follow.

Carers Parliament 2020

The first ever virtual Carers Parliament took place over three days on the 16, 17 and 25 November, with workshops, a webinar with Professor Jason Leitch, a main event and a range of virtual information stalls and wellbeing sessions. This section will bring together films and feedback from these events.

Video

Main Carers Parliament event on 25 November - watch the video

Message to carers at the Carers Parliament from the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon - watch the video

Carers Campaign launch with campaign Ambassador and carer, Jane McCarry and carer, Jill - watch the video

Young Carer Spotlight - watch the video

Webinar with Professor Leitch - watch the video

Workshop presentations and feedback

Carers and Human Rights - open the PDF

Transitions - open the PDF

Self Directed Support and carers - open the PDF

Carers Parliament 2019

The 7th Carers Parliament was held on Wednesday 30th October 2019 at the Central Halls in Edinburgh. The 2019 Carers Parliament had a theme of the Diversity of Caring. We want to recognise and celebrate the diverse nature of caring in Scotland. Carers have been described as ordinary people doing extraordinary things but fundamentally carers are individuals with their own unique experiences, aspirations and diverse needs. These differences present both an opportunity and a challenge to those tasked with taking forward policy development and delivering support (statutory and third sector) and our Carers Parliament day will be our opportunity to explore what this means in practice.

Information from the Day

Wordcloud from the parent carer workshop We have produced a range of information from the day for those who attended and those who could not. This includes a summary report, workshop notes and films of the day. Click on the links below to view these

Films

Record of the day
Judith Robertson, Chair
Young carers film
Christina McKelvie MSP Minister for Older People and Equalities
Joe Fitzpatrick MSP Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing
Debate (this incorporates response from Joe Fitzpatrick MSP and Alison Evison, COSLA President)

Individual carer films: if one thing could change, what would it be?

Workshop and engagement zone notes

Future ideas for Carers Parliament

We asked carers to give us their ideas about the future format for the Carers Parliament. This document summarises these responses and will inform planning for 2020 and beyond. Thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute their views.

Carers Parliament 2018

Carers Parliament 2018 was held on Wednesday 24th October 2018 at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and will bring the voice of carers from across Scotland to the debate on the future of health and social care.

Carers and young carers from across Scotland came to take part and below are a selection of reports about the day.

We have also produced films from the day:

Record of the day
Opening of debate by Joe Fitzpatrick MSP, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing
Social Security and Carers - Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Social Security & Older People
Full debate

Carers also took the time to record their thoughts on what should the future look like for carers and young carers. Thank you to everyone who contributed

This document summarises the main issues from the debate and provides information on the relevant Scottish Government actions and signposting to sources of support.

Carers Parliament 2016

Carers Parliament was held on 2 November 2016 in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Delegates heard from a range of speakers including the Minister for Social Security, Jeane Freeman MSP and Minister for Public Health & Sport, Aileen Campbell MSP, Marja Tuomi, Chief Executive of the Central Association of Carers in Finland alongside carers and representatives from CoSLA. The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon sent a video address to welcome carers to the event and Senator Paul Routier, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Jersey came along to hear about support for carers in Scotland.

You can read the full report and watch videos of the day by clicking the file below.

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Carers Parliament

Carers Parliament 2021

Carers Parliament 2020

Carers Parliament 2019

Carers Parliament 2018

Carers Parliament 2016

Carers Parliament 2015

Carers Parliament 2014

Carers Parliament 2013

Carers Parliament 2012