The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 states that charges must be waived for all support in order to meet the identified needs of individual carers including advocacy, emotional support, training, translation, and breaks from caring. This reinforced the Social Care (Self Directed Support) Scotland Act 2013 which introduced the right for carers not to be charged for any support they receive as a carer.
Charging remains a complex and confusing issue for many people. Each local authority has its own local charging policy, leading to variation in relation to what people are charged for and how much they are charged.
Shared Care Scotland has a keen interest in the waiving of charges, particularly in relation to short breaks and replacement care. We have produced a case study based on a carer enquiry we received in 2019 concerning the refund of charges that had been made for respite provision.
The full case study can be downloaded here (Word)
We will continue to add case studies as they become available.
Waiving Charges Worked Examples (Scottish Government)
The Scottish Government has produced a set of worked examples to help with local decision making in determining when to waive charges for carer support. These examples can be downloaded here (Word)