Strengthening Support For Young Carers And Families In Highland
15th November 2023
Work is ongoing to strengthen support being offered to young carers and their families in Highland through the provision of Young Carers Statements.
Members of The Highland Council's Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Committee were updated on progress being made to ensure that Young Carers and their families receive appropriate support.
Cllr David Fraser, Chair of the Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Committee said: "It’s vital that we deliver the provision of Young Carers statements across Highland equitably to help to ensure that the lives of children and young people are not restricted, and their experiences and opportunities are not limited as they grow up.
“This work is reflected in the Council’s Administration Programme ‘Our Future Highland’ which is committed to ‘working together to improve quality of life and opportunities for Highland people’."
He added: “Caring for others is not always a negative experience but we need to ensure that help and support is available to our Young Carers.”
Under The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, Highland Council has a duty to prepare Young Carer Statements. These are support plans that contains information about:
how much caring a young carer is doing and if they are able and willing to do it;
what sort of care is undertaken and whether it is appropriate for them to do it; and
the help and support needed to make sure that young carers are healthy, safe, and happy.
It is usually schools who offer and prepare the young carer statement. While Health and Social Care officers have a role in supporting young carers, the Council’s Education and Learning Service will take leadership responsibility for developing young carers support and provision.
Members noted that funding provided for local government is currently passed on to NHS Highland and that budget negotiations are ongoing with NHS Highland to ensure that the needs of young carers and their families are met by enabling the Council to meet its statutory function of providing young carers statements.
The Council is also engaging with the Carers Trust to deliver Young Carer Awareness Training for staff in Education who are helping to prepare Young Carer Statements.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Highland Council continues to explore external funding opportunities to help families in the region who experience disproportionately higher levels of fuel poverty than the rest of Scotland. External funding is targeted at households classed as fuel and extreme fuel poor and is available Highland-wide.
The Highland Council is inviting applications from groups and organisations to the ‘Communities and Place' strand of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). £1 million of funding is available for capital and revenue projects, that will empower communities to build on their own strengths, support local needs, and deliver on the fund's main objective of ‘building pride in place and increasing life chances'.
A strategy which proposes a two-stage approach towards the development of vibrant community hubs in partnership with High Life Highland and sportscotland was agreed at the Council's Education Committee. The report set out the principles for investment over the long-term and the next steps to develop individual plans for each of the Council's 29 associated school group (ASG) areas.
The Highland Council are inviting all tenants to have their say on the rent levels for the year ahead. We encourage everyone that lives in a council house to take this chance to have their say, the results of this will have a direct impact on the services we are able to deliver next year and in the future.
Suppliers working in the wedding market are being invited by Highland Registrars to a newly established Wedding Fair. The Highland Wedding Fair will take place on Sunday 4 February 2024 with public access from 11.00am - 3.00pm (suppliers will have access from 8:30am).
The Highland Council has announced the timetable to make a final attempt to reform the 30 Community Council elections that failed to form in September 2023. Community Councils are voluntary organisations that express the views and concerns of local people within their area across a wide range of issues from new buildings and roads to local services and facilities.
For the first time, The Highland Council's Employability Service is offering Paid Third Sector Placements to unemployed Highland residents. Funded by the Scottish Government through the No One Left Behind policy, this initiative proposes 6-month paid work experience placements hosted by charities and non-for-profit organisations.
Highland Council's Playpark Strategy and Action Plan for 2023-2033 was agreed and adopted by members of the Communities and Place Committee on 29 November 2023. Resource - The service has limited revenue budget for maintenance of £176,900 for all sites.
It was announced on Friday 1 December 2023 that Workhaus Projects has been awarded the contract to carry out the interpretation for the interior of the Inverness Castle Experience. Workhaus Projects will combine creativity, design, technology and craftsmanship to create a world-class visitor experience within the transformed castle building, bringing the vision of content designers Mather & Co to fruition.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has announced £900,000 in new funding for staff to tackle poor behaviour and attendance in schools. The funding will be provided directly to local authorities to train support staff to respond to new challenges and develop behaviour management strategies in schools post COVID.
