Carers deserve as much support as we can give

During the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, a commitment was given by all of the UK parties that the Scottish Parliament would acquire more powers should the country decide to vote no.

In the aftermath of the referendum, the Smith Commission was established to bring together all of the political parties in the Scottish Parliament to agree some further powers to be devolved.

I served on that commission to represent the Scottish National Party and negotiated to try to secure as wide a range of powers as I could for the Scottish Parliament.

One of the most significant areas of debate was over the extent to which the Scottish Parliament should acquire powers over welfare and benefits issues. I believed that to be important to ensure the values that matter to our community were reflected in our welfare system.

We secured some, but not nearly all of these powers. Further progress will be made in taking forward one of these powers in the next few weeks.

The majority of carers will receive their next payment of the carer’s allowance supplement on Friday, December 13.

This supplement, paid twice a year by Social Security Scotland, to carers in receipt of carer’s allowance in Scotland is in its second year. Payments have already been made to over 91,000 carers throughout Scotland.

The carer’s allowance supplement is two automatic payments totalling £452.40 this year. It was introduced by the Scottish Government because carers allowance was the lowest paid benefit. The additional payment means it is now above the level of jobseekers allowance.

This year the Scottish Government is investing over £320 million in the carer’s allowance and carer’s allowance supplement.

Since launching in September 2018, 235,405 carer’s allowance supplement payments have been made to 91,550 carers.

The carer’s allowance supplement is paid to carers who are in receipt of carer’s allowance and living in Scotland on the relevant ‘qualifying date’. The qualifying date for the December payment was October 14, 2019.

Carers do not need to apply for the supplement, which is paid automatically, if they are due to get a payment.

In 2019/20, carer’s allowance is £66.15 per week. The carer’s allowance supplement increases this to the equivalent of £74.85 per week so it now exceeds the rate of jobseeker’s allowance (£73.10 per week) for carers in Scotland.

I am delighted that the carer’s allowance supplement, now in its second year, has helped so many carers throughout Scotland. Carers make an invaluable contribution to society. They give love and devoted service in our homes that the state could never succeed in delivering. It is so important that their special contribution is recognised by our society.

This was the first social security payment that was introduced under the new welfare powers of the Scottish Parliament and we introduced it to enable us to acknowledge the vital role performed by carers.

I am pleased that Social Security Scotland has committed to making the majority of payments on 13 December to ensure people have their money by Christmas to help at what can bea challenging financial time.

On December 3 the group welcomed writer Gillian Duff as she delivered her adjudication of this year’s Flash Fiction competition. Many thanks to Gillian for her hard work in evaluating the entries and the insightful advice she offered. Well done to all 17 entrants, who achieved an extremely high standard.

Congratulations to Catherine Ogston, who took first place with her story ‘Island Life’; William Duguid, second with ‘A Life Observed’; Jim Waite, third with ‘Muriel’s Birthday’; Stuart Wardrop, highly commended with ‘The Night is not your Friend’ and Caroline Mackay, Bill Montague, Morag Oag and Anne Pack, all commended.

The group invites all members to a Christmas meeting at the Royal George Hotel, Perth on Tuesday, December 10 at 7.30pm. The meeting will have demonstrator Linda Souter from Dunfermline and her theme will be ‘Seasonal Magic’. Members are invited to enjoy some alcohol-free festive fizz and nibbles and an opportunity to win a Christmas hamper.

RSAS CLUB

The festive party for seniors will be on Wednesday, December 18 at 7pm, costing £5pp. The deadline for applications is December 11. The children’s party for children and grandchildren of members is on Saturday, December 21 from 3pm to 5pm, with the deadline for

President Jack Rivett welcomed all and handed the meeting over to Bob Anderson, who needed no introduction. The title of the speech ‘Hummlies and Doddies’ generated interest as to what they were.

These expressions were explained and referred to cattle from various parts of Scotland.

Many changes to the managing