Short Breaks Services Statement

Short Breaks Service Statement

Each Local Authority and Integration Joint Board is required to produce a Short Breaks Services Statement under the duties of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016. It gives information about the short breaks services available locally and across Scotland for carers and the people they care for. This information may be by way of direct provision within the statement, or by provision of a link to existing local or national systems that currently hold relevant information.

Further duties under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 as part of the Carers Charter can be accessed on the Scottish Government website here https://beta.gov.scot/publications/carers-charter/pages/2/

A carer is someone who provides (or intends to provide) care for another person but not:

• If this is only because of that person’s age (where they are under 18); or

• If you are caring because you have a contract or as voluntary work

You are an ‘adult carer’ if you meet the criteria above and are aged 18 or over, and not attending school.

You are a ‘young carer’ if you meet the criteria above and are either under the age of 18 or 18 or over, but still attending school.

The aim of the statement is to help carers and people with support needs understand:

• What short breaks are

• Who can access them

• What is available in the local area and across Scotland

• How they can access short breaks and find further information

This will enable carers to have more choice and therefore more control over what support is right for them.

The contents of this statement has been informed by what carers have told us during our consultations around both the adult carers and young carers’ strategies is important to them and further engagement with our commissioned carers support service. The statement will continue to be reviewed annually in light of feedback.