Scottish Labour will lead a debate in the Scottish Parliament today urging the SNP government to keep the promise it made four years ago to Scotland’s kinship carers – to give them the same financial support as foster carers.

Back in 2007, Alex Salmond agreed to Scottish Labour’s demands to fast track £10 million into local authority budgets to ensure all kinship carers of looked-after children in Scotland were paid the same as foster carers.

However, four and half years later kinship carers and foster carers are still paid different amounts.  

An estimated 15,000 children in Scotland are raised by family members because their parents are unable to care for them.

In April 2011, kinship carers in over three quarters of local authority areas were not afforded the same level of financial support as foster carers.

Scottish Labour is calling for the SNP to finally deliver on its broken promise and end to the “postcode lottery” of support that exists across Scotland.

Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Jackie Baillie MSP, said:

“The SNP has broken many of their promises, but this is by far one of the SNP government’s cruelest betrayals.

“It is now over four years since Alex Salmond agreed to Scottish Labour’s demands to invest £10 million to ensure kinship carers are placed on an equal footing with foster carers.

“Yet across Scotland this is still not happening and a forgotten army of carers are struggling to give some of our most vulnerable children a secure and happy upbringing.

“A grossly unfair postcode lottery of support for kinship carers has emerged – with carers in some areas getting significantly less help than others.    

“Alex Salmond made a promise to Scotland’s army of kinship carers four years ago. It’s time he had the decency to make good on that promise.”

Anne Swartz, who has been a kinship carer for almost seven years and looks after her three grandchildren aged 11, 13 and 14 backed Jackie Baillie’s calls. Ms Swartz, who now also runs a support group for kinship carers in West Dunbartonshire, said: 

“I am delighted that Jackie Baillie is taking the fight to the government for us.    

“When I started caring for my grandchildren, my life was turned upside down. I lost my job. I felt like I was on my own, with nobody I could turn to for help. We face exactly the same challenges as foster parents, yet we do not get the same financial support or training.

“The fact is we are getting a raw deal from this government. Alex Salmond made us a promise – it is time he delivered on it. If he had made good on his promise back in 2007, I might have been able to keep my job and hang on to some of my savings.

“Children in kinship care face the same issues as children in foster care, yet there is a great disparity in that they cannot access appropriate services to meet their needs. At the end of the day, it is the children who suffer out of all of this.”

26 January 2012