Interim National Care Service Advisory Board: Advice to Scottish Ministers and Council Leaders - Rights to Breaks for Carers

Background

5. There are an estimated 700,000-800,000 adult carers and 27,000 young carers in Scotland. The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the Act”) gives these carers rights to help ensure they are identified and supported more consistently. Appropriate support allows these carers to continue to care, if they wish, in good health and to have a life alongside caring.

6. The Act gives all carers the right to an adult carer support plan (ACSP) or young carer statement (YCS). These plans record the carer’s personal outcomes, identified needs and the support required, including breaks from caring. They are normally prepared by their local authority, or a local carer organisation it funds to do this on its behalf.

7. The Independent Review of Adult Social Care (2021) recommended strengthening these rights by giving unpaid carers a specific right to breaks.

The Right to Breaks

8. The Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 will make changes to the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to deliver a right to personalised short breaks support for carers who can’t currently access “sufficient breaks” from caring.

9. These changes will give local authorities and health and social care partnerships a new duty to decide whether a carer is able to take “sufficient breaks” from their caring role. If not, support must be provided to help make this possible. This assessment will take place through the adult carer support plan or young carer statement process.

10. The Act also:

• requires Ministers to set statutory timescales for preparing ACSPs and YCSs
• requires local authorities to publish additional information on local short break availability
• enables regulations that will define “sufficient breaks” and set transition arrangements

11. Ministers will make final decisions on regulations and commencement after the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.

Financial impact

12. The scale of the Right to Breaks means it may involve significant costs for Integration Authorities. The Right encompasses carers of all ages, looking after adults and children, and so the impacts span adult services and children’s services. The Scottish Government’s upper estimates of the cost at full implementation in 2035-36 are £272.7m, with further projected increases to non-statutory ‘easy access breaks’.

13. However, by avoiding costs that arise from unplanned hospital admissions, delayed discharges and additional residential care, the Right to Breaks has the potential to deliver significant savings for the NHS, local authorities and integration authorities. According to the Financial Memorandum for the Care Reform Bill, preventing just 1% of intensive caring relationships from breaking down could save £77 million annually. If 5% of breakdowns are prevented, the estimated savings rise to £386 million per year.

14. In addition to the statutory right to beaks, the Advisory Board recognises that the needs of many carers can be met through easy access breaks, and that these low cost (£300-£400) breaks can be enough to sustain carers and divert them from a point of crisis. Easy access breaks will continue to have an important role as part of the supporting infrastructure for carers alongside the statutory right to breaks.

Critical Success Factors

15. Through cross-sectoral engagement, including with the Right to Breaks Implementation Steering Group, the Advisory Board has identified the following factors as critical to the successful implementation of the right to breaks:

1. Adequate Funding

• Funding must align with the upper cost estimates of the Financial Memorandum of the Care Reform Act to enable authorities to meet statutory duties and develop local provision.
• The Board is of the view that, due to the extent of cuts to social care packages, the costs within the Financial Memorandum are likely to be a considerable underestimate.

2. Allocation and Use of Resources

• Clear expectations on how funding for the Right to Breaks is allocated and used will be essential for consistency and for ensuring resources support carers as intended.
• Any transitional or proportionate arrangements to understand demand or costs should be jointly agreed by Scottish Government and COSLA, in line with the Verity House Agreement.

3. Monitoring and Reporting

• Robust and transparent local reporting will be essential to track implementation and understand whether carers are benefiting as intended.
• Consistency in reporting across local authority areas will help provide a clear national picture.
• Reporting should cover:
  • Financial allocation – how resources have been allocated and utilised to support delivery of the right to breaks.
  • Volume and type of breaks delivered.
  • Number of unpaid carers benefitting
  • Outcomes for carers and cared-for individuals. This should be informed by feedback and evaluation from carers and, where possible, cared-for-individuals. If possible, local monitoring and reporting frameworks should also capture instances where carers have been unable to access breaks.
• Baselining current provision will support monitoring of progress over time.

4. Service Capacity and Workforce

• Delivery depends on sufficient capacity within carer support services and short break services, including sustainable local commissioning and addressing gaps in provision across regions.
• Workforce planning and training will be required to ensure carers can access breaks without compromising care for the cared-for person.

5. Regulations and Guidance

• Clear, practical regulations and guidance are required to support consistent interpretation of “sufficient breaks”, statutory timescales, assessment processes and transition arrangements across local authorities and service providers.

6. Communication and Awareness

• Carers and professionals must understand the Right to Breaks and how to access support. Consistent approaches to offering ACSPs and YCSs, along with training and awareness raising, will support equitable access.
• Local Authorities and Health & Social Care Partnerships should be content that appropriate efforts are being made on an ongoing basis to identify carers who need supported with the Right to Breaks.

16. Further supporting material is set out in Annex A, which includes good practice examples of Easy Access Breaks.