 The next item of business is a debate on motion 1 3 1 8 in the name of Ben Macpherson on carer allowance supplement Scotland bill. I would invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request to speak buttons now or to put an R in the chat function if they are joining us online. I call on Ben Macpherson to speak to and move the motion minister for around 10 minutes. I very much welcome this opportunity to open the debate on the general principles of the carer allowance supplement Scotland bill. I would like to begin the stage 1 debate by recognising and thanking the thousands of unpaid carers across Scotland who make a remarkable contribution to our society. As part of our wider commitments across government, we are committed to supporting carers to protect their health and wellbeing so that they can continue to care if they continue to wish to do so, as well as, of course, having a life of their own alongside caring. Across government, we are committed to a variety of actions to support carers. For example, we introduced a £1.4 million holiday voucher scheme, which will provide thousands of vouchers for short breaks and days out to carers, people with disabilities and families on low incomes. The Carers Scotland Act 2016 introduced the right for all carers to an adult carer support plan or young carer statement to identify their personal outcomes. We also recently accepted the recommendations of the independent review of adult social care, many of which are designed to improve carer support. Of course, we recognise the added pressures that carers have had to deal with as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many carers have had to step in to provide care for disabled people, which would normally have been provided by statutory services such as schools and daycare centres. As a constituency MSP, I have had casework on that myself and have seen first-hand the challenges that that has presented to families and individuals. That is why we delivered extra support to unpaid carers in receipt of carers allowance by increasing the amount of carers allowance supplement in June 2020, as part of the wider package of Scottish Government support to help to mitigate the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, it has been three years since we gained the legislative powers to introduce social security benefits. Our first change when the Social Security Act 2018 was passed was to introduce the carers allowance supplement. That has improved the incomes of more than 90,000 Scottish carers. Increasing carers allowance by 13 per cent and eligible carers in Scotland received £690.30 more support last year compared with those in the rest of the UK. I will, of course. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and apologies. I should have said, will the minister take an intervention? I am sorry. I appreciate that the doubling of the supplement has been welcomed by a number of organisations and a number of carers, but what will the Government do for the almost one million people in Scotland who are caring and have undertaken considerably more caring roles in the past year, who do not qualify for any financial support? We have quite a bit of time in hand, so I can give you back that time. Pam Duncan-Glancy raises a very important question, which orientates around the introduction of Scottish carers assistance, which I will come on to later on if my statement, if I may. As I said, in Scotland, those in receipt of carers allowance received £690.30 more last year compared with those in the rest of the UK. Carers in Scotland continuously in receipt of carers allowance and carers allowance supplement since September 2018 will have received over £2,270 more than carers in the rest of the UK. Through our social security powers, we invest more than £350 million a year in supporting carers through carers allowance, carers allowance supplement and the young carers grant. Although the first coronavirus payment was part of a much wider package of support for unpaid carers, stakeholders have continued to call for a second payment to help carers with the strain that many have felt and continue to feel as a result of their enhanced role during the pandemic. That, of course, is what this bill is all about. Section 1 seeks to increase the amount of carers allowance supplement to be paid in December 2021. If Parliament agrees, a payment of £462.80 will be made in December to all carers allowance supplement recipients instead of the planned £231.40. That is a further investment of around £20 million by the Scottish Government. That would take the Scottish Government's investment across two coronavirus carers allowance supplement payments to around £40 million, and that all comes from our own budgets. I have raised the bill in committee and also in the chamber previously, but can I ask him whether the Scottish Government also supports an extension of carers allowance for up to six months after a bereavement, especially given what many of our constituencies already highlighted and are the Scottish National Party Government willing to take that forward and outline the timetable for that? Like Pam Duncan-Glancy, Miles Briggs raises an important point, and it is related to how we consider what support is available for carers in Scotland in the round as we develop Scottish carers assistance. Again, if I may, I will come on to that shortly. Sticking with the content of the bill as introduced to Parliament, I am pleased to note that the Social Justice and Social Security Committee has welcomed the proposed payment in its stage 1 report. That increased payment would not only help to mitigate some of the negative impacts of the virus on carers' own finances and wellbeing, but will also help them to continue to provide vital caring roles at a time when health and social care services are stretched, as we know. We also recognise as a Government that the pandemic has identified a need for greater flexibility in how we support carers when society faces significant changing circumstances as we continue to do so now. That is why the bill includes a power to enable ministers to bring forward regulations that, again, if approved by Parliament, could increase the amount of carers allowance supplement for a future period. However, it is important to note that, as we continue to balance the Scottish budget, challenging decisions will have to be made regarding any new policy suggestions that we receive, ensuring that any new changes are affordable. However, as we are seeking to do through this bill, the Scottish Government will work to provide additional support to unpaid carers where and when we can. That is why, although I am here to talk about the bill before us and related to the two interventions, it may be helpful to reiterate our broader commitment to improving carers allowance, particularly as the bill was raised during the stage 1 evidence and in the committee's stage 1 report. We are working with carers and stakeholders to develop a replacement benefit for carers allowance, Scottish carers assistance. We are carrying out a detailed options analysis and will consult in the coming winter, so the period ahead, on proposals for the delivery of Scottish carers assistance. It is important that we take adequate and appropriate time to get this right, as carers allowance has some of the most complex links with UK Government benefits of all the support being devolved in the Scotland Act 2016. We need to ensure that we can protect the existing support that carers rely on. We are continuing to make good progress towards the launch of Scottish carers assistance. Due to the impacts of the pandemic, both the Scottish Government and the DWP, who are integral to our work to transfer delivery of carers allowance, we had to work on a new timetable for delivering Scottish carers assistance. We are about to commence rather feasibility work with the DWP in the next quarter, which will give us a much more detailed understanding of what needs to be done and how long it will take. Our aim is to begin the build of Scottish carers assistance in the new year, and we anticipate that that will take a minimum of 18 months, given the complex interactions between carer benefits and the reserved benefits system. We will, of course, continue to keep Parliament updated as that work progresses. I will, yes. Having recognised that it could take up to 18 months to build the carers assistance, and also recognising that we are far from out of the pandemic—and, in fact, we have heard across the chamber that we are likely to face one of the most difficult winters that we have had in a long time, including on health and social care services—it is likely that unpaid carers are going to continue to face considerable hardship in the short but also medium term. On that basis, would you commit now to doubling the carers' supplement at least until the 18 months until the build starts? As the bill presents before us that we are debating today, we are committed for a payment in December that is double if we are able to get the bill passed as a Parliament in the rapid timescale that we are aiming for, including getting through stage 1 today. We then will go into a budget process. Again, if the Parliament passes the bill that we are considering today, then there will be a power to make changes in the next financial year, should that be the will of Parliament. Of course, that will have to be part of budget considerations for the next financial year. Do I have time, Presiding Officer? I have a bit of time, but I can give it all back. Of course. Willie Rennie. Just to press that point a little bit further, I think that Pam Duncan-Glancy is right. We do not see many of the support services and respite services back up and running again. There are significant problems with staffing and getting those services ready, so it is not going to be any easier for carers over the next year. Why cannot he commit now to providing more finance now for next year? As I stated in my statement just a few moments ago, there is a budget process to go through. What we are focused on as a Government, particularly in light of the current pressures on families and on household budgets, is for those who are in receipt of the carers allowance, for those people not just to get the 13 per cent that we have delivered for a number of years now, but to get that additional payment and for them to get it as quickly as we can. That is why I am grateful to the Parliament for the expedited timetable that we are working on this bill through, so that we can get that money into the pockets of families in good time for the festive period. That is our focus. I would like to close by putting on record my thanks to the social justice and social security committee for leading the work on the bill today and for those who have contributed to that process in an expedited way. I am pleased to note the support express for the bill and its aims. I want to conclude the opening statement by saying that I commend the general principles of the bill to the Parliament. I move that the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the carers allowance supplement Scotland bill, and I look forward to listening to fellow members' contributions. As I said, we have a little bit of time in hand, so any members that take interventions, I will be able to give you your time back. On behalf of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, I call on Neil Gray for around seven minutes. I understand that this is the first non-emergency stage 1 debate of this parliamentary session. It is also the first opportunity to speak for me in the chamber of my capacity as a convener to the social justice and social security committee. Before sharing our specific findings on the general principles of the carers allowance supplement Scotland bill, I know that colleagues in the chamber will want to join me, like the minister, in agreeing that it is fitting that we are paying testament today to the hard work of unpaid carers and acknowledging the impact of the pandemic on them. There is no doubt that carers deserve recognition and support for the tireless work that they do to provide care for family members, friends and neighbours, which is why I am pleased to see support here in Scotland going further than elsewhere and going some way to recognise the contribution carers make. It is an issue that strikes right of the heart of one of the Parliament's key principles to ensure that all people are treated fairly. As a committee, while timing for our consideration of the bill has been tight, we have received powerful testimony over 100 carers about their experiences. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all those carers for finding the time to engage with us. As a committee, we want to make sure that we are hearing how the policies that we are looking at have an impact in real life. Those testimonies from carers are not an easy read in some cases, as they show the sometimes damaging impact that their carer responsibilities can have on their own health and wellbeing. We are told about the 24-hour-a-day pressure—the pressure-cooker nature—of caring work. Carers shared with us that they were at breaking point after 16 months of caring during a pandemic with no let-up. It has placed significant demands on unpaid carers' financial, physical and mental health and employment. It has also resulted in a lack of opportunities for carers to take breaks from their caring responsibilities, with the reduced availability of respite services adding further stress and pressure to their roles. Turning to the provisions of the bill before us, it will come as no surprise to the chamber that the committee welcomes the move to provide an increase in the December payment of carers' allowance supplement in recognition of the extra burden that the pandemic has placed on them. Although we are supportive of the doubling of the December payment to £462.80, our stage 1 report highlights some specific issues that have been raised in the evidence that we receive, both with regard to the specific remit of the bill and looking beyond. Although the acknowledging significant work is being done by the Scottish Government to support carers, we must also give voice to the evidence that we have heard and hope that ministers will consider their views expressed. I thank Neil Gray for taking the intervention. I wonder if he will highlight in his speech whether the Scottish Government would consider making the double payment permanent and perhaps he could set that out in his speech. Neil Gray, I have come to that shortly in my speech because we did receive evidence in that regard. We received some submissions for the amount proposed for the cast payment in December 2021 to be higher. Some submissions also wanted the increase to be made permanent rather than a one-off. Arguments to support the view drew comparisons between the level of carers' allowance at CAS and what it would cost to provide a similar level of paid care. There was also a concern from some of the people who shared their views with us that the level of carer benefits was too low to lift carers out of poverty. We believe that it is vital that carers get the support that they need and would appreciate the Scottish Government giving due consideration to the evidence that we received to the inquiry, which argues for further additional payments to CAS to be made in future years using the regulatory power in the bill. We recognise that allowing carers to know their incomes over longer term would also assist them in managing their finances. We heard from the minister that the Scottish Government intends that the new Scottish carers' assistance will improve financial support for unpaid carers. We are pleased that there are plans for consultation on the new benefit. As a committee, we look forward to engaging with the Government on the options proposed. We called in our report for the Scottish Government to publish a timetable for delivery of the new benefit, including its date for introduction. The minister has set out the reasons for why the Government is working to a new delivery timetable for Scottish carers' assistance. We hope that we will be able to confirm with the committee when the new benefit will be in place. A second area of concern that was raised with the committee was that only a small minority of carers are eligible for carers allowance or the supplement. According to carers UK, there were around 729,000 unpaid carers in Scotland before the Covid-19 outbreak. That may have risen by around 400,000 at the height of the pandemic. Around 91,000 carers are expected to get carers in December 2021, around 10 per cent of all carers in Scotland. Although eligibility for carers right now is wholly dependent on eligibility for the UK carers allowance, we hope that the Scottish Government's plans for its new benefit will consider issues such as expanding eligibility, increasing the level of benefit and recognising those unpaid carers with more than one caring role. I appreciate the comments that have already been made in that regard by the minister. The design and introduction of the new Scottish carers assistance will be crucial for supporting carers wellbeing and preventing carers from being trapped in poverty. A third issue raised with us was the take-up of benefits by those entitled to them. We heard about the need for the application process for carers to be as clear and as straightforward as possible as carers were often deterred from claiming carers allowance particularly when they had been in receipt of universal credit. The complexity of the system would be particularly off-putting for people where carers allowance would interact with other benefits. We asked the Scottish Government to set out how it will monitor and evaluate whether the steps that are taken to promote the December 2021 payment have been successful in ensuring high uptake by those carers who qualify for it. I am pleased that the minister in his response to our report has referenced working on estimates of take-up in the Scottish Government's second benefit take-up strategy. The final area that I wish to highlight is the bill's proposal to use regulations under the affirmative procedure rather than the primary legislation to increase the amount of cash paid in future. The committee received a variety of views and the level of parliamentary scrutiny future increases the amount of cash that should be subject to, while some recommended that all social security regulations should be super-affirmative. Others suggested that changing the amount of payment ought to require little scrutiny. Ultimately, we believe that there is a wide interest from stakeholders in the increased cash payment being proposed by the Scottish Government. We therefore consider it important that the Scottish Government ensure the regulation making powers in the bill are subject to a suitable procedure to allow robust scrutiny to take place and also ensure that the plight of carers continue to be highlighted and considered. The committee feels that our work to ensure that the right support is provided to carers has only just begun, and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government to ensure that its new benefit for carers delivers. The committee is pleased to support the general principles of the bill and recommends to Parliament that they are agreed to. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Gray. I now call Miles Briggs for around six minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I want to, like others, start by taking this opportunity to thank Scotland's unpaid carers and especially our young carers for everything that they do to provide care and love to people across Scotland. According to carers UK, there were up to 729,000 unpaid carers in Scotland before the Covid-19 outbreak. They now estimate that today this has risen by around 400,000 at the height of the pandemic. It is now also believed that there are 45,000 young carers who are unpaid carers in Scotland. It is important for all of us to reflect today that 1.1 million of our fellow Scots are undertaking an unpaid carering role for a family member or loved one. Unpaid carers, I believe, and I have always believed, are the backbone of our social care system, and they often go unrecognised. However, I hope that today is an opportunity for Parliament to recognise what it does. It is important that Governments do all that we can and that Parliament does all that we can to help unpaid carers. We must do that to support them. Scottish Conservatives support the doubling of the carers allowance supplement. In fact, that was a welcome measure that was included in all parties' manifestos across the chamber. We on these benches also want to see more progress on how we support Scotland's carers, specifically young carers. We understand the reasons given for the expediated timetable for consideration of the bill. Scottish Conservatives have worked constructively to ensure that unpaid carers will receive the double payment if the bill has passed this evening and at stage 2 and 3 of consideration. The Social Justice and Social Security Committee heard a number of concerns on issues in relation to the allowance, and Neil Gray has outlined some of those. One issue was with regards to only a small minority of carers being eligible for cash and how that could be changed to support more unpaid carers with around 91,000 people having been expected to benefit from that in December. That represented around 10 per cent of all carers in Scotland. Many responses that we received discussed concerns with regard to the qualifying rules for carers allowance, including young carers not being able to get young carers grant if they were already in receipt of carers allowance at the time that they applied for the young carers grant. I understand that around about 4,000 payments of the young carers grant have been made to young carers across Scotland since October 2019. That payment is welcomed by the 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who have received it and who are in receipt of disability benefit for an average of 16 hours a week of care. Eligibility and uptake are important issues. I hope that the minister will work with parties across the chamber and the committee to consider some of the reforms around young carers grant entitlement, especially around qualifying for CAS. Scottish Conservatives also support early action to extend payments for carers after a bereavement, as I said earlier, and a potential new support package for carers who often have had to give up work to care for a loved one. We want to see that taken forward at the earliest opportunity and have already written to the cabinet secretary on the issue. It is vital that we recognise that carers are able to access support beyond just financial support. Carers Scotland emphasises the importance of considering the needs of carers as a whole, not just the financial needs but the impact on their lives and their wellbeing while they are undertaking caring roles. The number one thing that carers have stressed throughout the inquiry that we have undertaken is the need for breaks to be restored and for respite packages to also be put back in place. Many carers in the past year have had no break whatsoever and this must, I believe, be a priority. As Willie Rennie stated, the need for carers to have that opportunity for a break and some respite care is absolutely critical. I would appeal to ministers to really look at how they can redouble efforts to deliver those and that Parliament would also be updated on progress. Access also to vital healthcare services is important and one that has been raised, not just with our committee but the health and sport committee, I know as well. Often carers put caring for a loved one ahead of their own health and mental wellbeing. We need to also see improvements in making access to healthcare services for carers across Scotland. To conclude, Scottish Conservatives welcome the carers allowance support bill. The bill, I believe, will allow unpaid carers to receive that double payment of carers allowance in December and that is important for all of us across the chamber. It also is that I believe that there is an opportunity to highlight many of the other areas that we need to see improvement. The passage of the bill in the committee has certainly given us that opportunity to hear those voices. Unpaid carers, as I have said, are the backbone of our social care system. It is only right that they receive the additional payment to mitigate against the financial impacts of the pandemic. Carers allowance supplement is a welcome step forward in providing that support and Scottish Conservatives will support the bill at decision time tonight. Thank you. I call on Pam Duncan-Glancy to open for Labour up to five minutes, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The bill before the chamber today seeks to put more money in the pockets of unpaid carers at the earliest opportunity. As someone who uses care both paid and unpaid, I cannot stress enough to this chamber the importance of the care provided by both paid and unpaid carers across Scotland. I would like to say now on the record, thank you, for years of support for me and for the millions of people across this country. Deputy Presiding Officer, Scottish Labour recognises the contribution that unpaid carers make to society every day, but especially in the most difficult of years. We support wholeheartedly the general principles of the bill, and we will be supporting it today. We have been clear that Scotland's estimated 1 million unpaid carers need us to go hard and fast to tackle the poverty that they face, and that is a step towards doing that. However, it will be unsurprising for some to hear that unpaid carers need more than supplements, they need certainty, financial stability and a minimum income that recognises their value and contribution. The reality is that often carers do not have a choice to care. They are taking on responsibilities in the absence of a social care system that fully meets the needs of those that they care for and themselves. They are stepping up and stepping in where there is no one else to do so. In this year, an estimated additional 400,000 unpaid carers have done this, where social care has been withdrawn and in many cases remains un reinstated. Doubling the supplement is welcome but does not go far enough. It is worth remembering that this payment is being made to recognise the additional caring responsibilities that many have been forced to take on during the pandemic. However, carers that I have spoken to have told me how they have been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 90 per cent of them have said that they have had to do this without a break. Before the pandemic, carers were caring without proper recognition and many were struggling to make ends meet too. Carers Alliance is currently set at the equivalent of about 15 hours of work at the living wage. One carer noted that they get just over £10 a day for caring for their partner full time. That is below the poverty pay. The cost of living for many families with disabled people in them is far higher than families without, and those families represent half of people living in poverty. The supplement does not do enough to tackle the poverty and inequality facing carers across Scotland, much of which did exist before the pandemic. That is why, Deputy Presiding Officer, I am frustrated at the constraints that the bill has placed on us in terms of our freedom to amend it. The time for effective scrutiny is limited, and consultation with carers has been incredibly powerful, but not as widespread as it might have been. More than that, we have had powers in Scotland to fully reform carers' allowance since 2018, and now, many years later, I would like to have been debating a bill that does that today. Scottish Labour would like to have seen a bill that addresses underlying entitlement issues, as it stands, as I have said, only one in ten of Scotland's carers receive allowance. Eligibility must be revised to ensure that all of Scotland's carers are recognised, and I expect the Scottish Government to do that when it moves to develop carers' assistance in Scotland, and, importantly, I ask them to do that soon. I asked the minister when he thought that that would be, and we have heard that it will be after the safe and secure transition, which could be nearly 2025. Carers that I do not believe can wait until then. I am also disappointed that the Government has not sought to use mechanisms that it has now to increase eligibility for the carers' supplement that it administers today. Furthermore, this bill, as it has been drafted, only commits to an increase in December 2021 for the carers' supplement payment, but we already know that the effects of the pandemic are going to continue far beyond that. We also know that caring responsibilities will not just disappear as we begin our journey out of the crisis. Indeed, they are more likely to increase. The carers who have shared their experiences with me have highlighted the detrimental impact on the wellbeing of those that they care for, and, in many cases, that is a long-lasting impact. It is clear that the impact of the pandemic and the responsibilities of unpaid carers will remain long after we have begun to move on from the darkness of the past year. That is happening against the backdrop of a system that was already at breaking point. The support available to carers pre-pandemic was already lacking, and now much of it has been removed altogether. The bill includes the ability for ministers to make an increase to the supplement again under regulations in the future, and we have heard about that this afternoon. I ask the Government again if it recognises that the need for an increase is likely to remain beyond this December payment, will it commit now, give carers the certainty that they need and keep the uplift until, at least, it reforms eligibility for an adequacy of carers' assistance and that payments under the renewed system begin? Carers need that certainty. If the Government will not do that, Scottish Labour will seek to amend the bill at stage 2 to extend the dates of the increased payment and ensure that carers will continue to receive it. Deputy Presiding Officer, the bill will provide welcome but a temporary measure to ease the financial pressures on carers right now, and we will support it today, but it by no means addresses the wider inequality that I believe we all want to address and that carers face in Scotland. Scottish Labour will continue to push the Government to go faster and do everything in its power to support unpaid carers. I will finish where I started, Deputy Presiding Officer, by thanking again the army of unpaid and paid carers out there and in here today, without whom I would not be in this place. Thank you to each and every one of you for all that you do. If Labour brings forward that amendment at stage 2, then the Liberal Democrats will support that initiative. It is important that, if it is recognised that the need for carers is there through the pandemic, and the pandemic is not over and the care support is still not available, we need to make that change and make that commitment now. The reason is quite simple, if the minister is listening. The reason is quite simple, that the uncertainty for carers just now is considerable. The strain on them is considerable. The Parliament could do a good job by just giving, removing some of that uncertainty and committing to next year. The minister says that it is part of the budget negotiations, but the actual Government makes a commitment from many years in advance to spending, so why can it make a commitment in this area? I will take an intervention from the minister if he wants to clear that point. The important thing to recognise is that the bill gives the power to consider future years. We do not know where we will be next year. We may be looking at a position where we think that there is a need to consider the amount of support again. It is providing flexibility within the legislation to consider the circumstances of future years. We will seek to support unpaid carers through any additional supplement, as the Parliament agrees in future years. We are not talking about massive sums of money here. It is reasonably significant, but it is not massive sums, but it means an awful lot to those people. Why cannot the minister remove the uncertainty and give them a bit more comfort? We know that the services will take a long time. Even if the pandemic is over, it will take a long time before the services are back up and running again. We will support Labour with that initiative if the Government does not move to make that commitment. We need to look longer-term. The underlining entitlement needs to be addressed, the massive gap that there is between the number of carers that exist, unpaid carers that exist within Scotland and the tiny number that receives the allowance that is present. We require them to provide 35 hours of care a week. In equivalent, it is £2 an hour. That is not enough to take them out of poverty. We will have to look at the amount of financial commitment that we make towards them, if we are going to address the fundamental problems that carers experience. My next point is about the pandemic. I am frustrated that the services that are available for carers have completely vanished for many people. I understand that the pandemic is here. I understand that we need to protect vulnerable individuals, but it is as if Covid is the only thing that counts. There are many other things—health harms, social harms and mental health harms—that count as well. We need to consider all those things in the round. I want to see those services back up and running as quickly as possible. I know that it is not the minister's responsibility, but he needs to put the pressure on his colleagues to make that change. In addition to the financial support, getting those services back up and running again would make a tremendous difference. I will conclude on—two years ago, I was invited by Amy Newton, who is somebody with multiple sclerosis. She gave me a pair of goggles, weights on my hands and my legs and she sent me shopping with this list. I was exhausted for the rest of the day and my head was thumping with it. That gave me a short insight into that woman's endurance. I think that what we owe her and the tens—the hundreds of thousands of people like her and her carers—is a proper level of support. Today starts that process and I commend the minister for that, but we need to go so much further. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate. For far too long, unpaid carers have been given a raw deal by the social security system. The essential, compassionate and unquantifiable contribution cannot be overstated. I take that opportunity to praise the staff and volunteers of carers of Western Bartonshire and carers of East Bartonshire for providing an outstanding level support to carers of my constituency. During the 14 years, I had the privilege of being part of the nursing team at St Margaret's College of Scotland hospital in my constituency. I saw firsthand how caring, attentive and compassionate unpaid carers are. This was at a time of greatest need. At the end of life, the unwavering, unconditional love and support that they showed always filled me with respect and admiration. That is especially true when we consider the contribution during the Covid-19 pandemic. The love and support that they have given to those they care for has been a lifesaver to many, especially at a time when they have not full access to other services. That is why I welcome the intentions of the bill. As a member of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, I can advise that we have received powerful testimony from carers and others about the impact Covid-19 has had. The evidence about the emotional and financial impact was clear. Carers said that doubling the supplement in December will be very welcome at such a challenging financial time. It is a no-brainer that we continue to provide this additional amount as Covid-19 pressures continue. Contrast this approach with one that removes £20 uplift from universal credit, this cut will put thousands of carers into poverty. The evidence that we received as a committee also made clear that wider reforms to support available are essential. We must not let carers down when it comes to this much-needed reform. They have been let down for far too long. Since 1976, when it was initially introduced, it has indoled carers' allowance. Successive UK Governments refused to align the amount paid with other earning replacement benefits. Those UK Governments had years and years and numerous opportunities to correct the mistakes and the broken promises made to carers, but refused to do so. I am pleased in Scotland that we have acted to do this with the carers allowance supplement. It put carers on a par with others that it was long overdue. We have the safe transfer of carers allowance cases to Social Security Scotland from the DWP. We should then continue a pace with the changes that carers are calling for. We must advise a new system of carers assistance that does not discourage claims and one that more ably responds to the real world demands in carers in Scotland. The current system deters carers from claiming, penalises them from working or studying and turns its back on disabled carers and older carers. The issue of take-up is still held back by powers reserved to Westminster that it also needs addressed. The underlying benefit rule means that many disabled and pension age carers see no gain from claiming. The carers allowance supplement has altered that position in Scotland. We therefore need to get the message out that it is worth why we are applying. The remaining reserved policy hinders our take-up message because the conflict of the UK benefit system creates for disabled people who are in receipt of severe disability payments. A disabled person can lose a severe disability premium if their carer claims carers allowance. That approach puts financial conflict into the relationship between carers and the person that they assist. That obvious deterrent to claiming must end if we are to fully maximise the support on offer to carers. In summary, we must get it right when setting the new carers assistance scheme for Scotland. We must not just listen to carers in the way that the success of the UK Government did and then take no action on concerns raised. I look forward instead to this Parliament recognising the massive contribution that unpaid carers make and then being able to hold our heads up as we create an effective and compassionate system of support and one that brings a step change needed to properly recognise and support carers in Scotland. Unpaid carers, as we have heard today in the chamber, are the secret heroes of our social care system. We owe them an enormous gratitude for the power of work that they carry out every single day, often going without a single thank you or recognition. We on these benches believe that it is only right that they receive additional payment to mitigate the financial effects of the pandemic. The bill allows for the second additional payment of carers allowance supplement to be paid in December 2021 and gives ministers the power to increase any future payment of the carers allowance supplement at their discretion. Firstly, the pandemic has undoubtedly exacerbated the issues facing unpaid carers. I have heard first hand from parents of children living with autism. In my constituency, I want to raise how important it is that they are fully supported. Restbikes were cancelled, therapy appointments were postponed and the usual routines that are required for many autistic children were lost. For many parents, they experienced some of their lowest lows. One mother broke down in front of me, telling me about her experience of her autistic daughter and her husband, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. At the time, it was just after Christmas, and she was just concerned about how she would support herself, her child and her husband. I really want the bill to deliver for her, her family and for everyone across Scotland, but by no means is it a silver bullet. It has a systemic issue too, which the SNP, I believe, has failed to so far addressed, but we are making progress, so I want to be positive. From being unable to obtain CAMHS appointments for ASN support, to having to pay privately to obtain an ASN assessment, which sometimes is not even accepted through the local authority system, is just another uphill battle. I want the SNP Government to deliver on the devolved benefits. I worry that full implementation will be slow to come to fruition and, ultimately, those problems will compound on to those people who are already facing extreme difficulties. We see some of the concerns in the submission to the Social Security Committee, and I particularly want to draw your attention to feedback from the parent who shall miss out, given her circumstances. They said, and I quote, Every carer should get it. I am a carer for a person who has high functioning autism. I don't get the carer's allowance supplement. Why? I have MS, I can't work, so I live on benefits. I don't get carer's allowance supplement, but I do get the carer's on my ESC. How is that fair? It is clear that further issues within the bill must be addressed if it is to be fit for purpose. If that involves collaborating more between both Governments, that is what has to be done to support those individuals. Ben Macpherson, we have talked about the development of Scottish Cares assistance and considerations around eligibility for that. Does she believe that the UK Government should also consider eligibility criteria for carers allowance across the whole of the UK? I think that specifically looking at the examples that I am giving today, I thank the Minister for the Intervention, but I really believe that we need to look at a system that works, that addresses the overall support package, whatever it might be, and if it takes a conversation between you and your contemporary and the UK Government, that is an important thing to do to highlight those issues. We have had 100 submissions into the committee that have highlighted issues. It is not just about the carer's allowance supplement, it is about access to other things that are going to make a change in people's lives so that they will not have to break down crying in front of me. Ms Hamilton, I appreciate that you took the intervention, but what time is moving on a wee bit? Oh, sorry. I will just draw to a close, because I think that it is important to address those things. In short, we will support the general principles of the bill at decision time tonight, but we would be mindful that we need to see delivery. We have seen a lot of broken promises from the Scottish National Party Government, so scratching the surface is not good enough, then there are wider issues at play. I now call Emma Roddick to be followed by Martin Whitfield. Up to four minutes, please, Ms Roddick. As a new MSP this session and a member of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, I could very easily have let myself get overwhelmed by the fact that we started scrutinising our first piece of legislation at our first meeting. However, as it is one aimed at supporting carers through what is an extremely difficult time with multiple pressures, I am just glad to be involved and keen to make sure that this money gets where it needs to be as soon as possible. It is an inescapable fact that, most of the time, the work of carers goes unnoticed by those outwith their care and their families. It is often a thankless task and all-consuming, so I am glad to hear members from all parties today choosing to publicly recognise their work and thank them for all that they do. Another inescapable fact is that many people over the pandemic have lost the ability to leave their home to go to work, and many careers have been impacted by staying at home and trying to balance care responsibilities with work commitments. We also know that that is a gendered issue with carers UK estimating that two-thirds of unpaid carers are women. When the economic impact of unpaid care carried out by women in the UK is an estimated £77 billion a year, an additional £21 million of investment seems a bit small, but that does mean over £230 quid extra in the pockets of individual carers in Scotland this winter. Particularly when budgets are so tight in the context of a perfect storm of irresponsible universal credit cuts, the end of furlough and rising fuel prices, that is surely something worth celebrating. We also need to recognise that this is the second time that the Scottish Government will have doubled the carers allowance supplement, a benefit that it brought in because the UK Government's carers allowance is the lowest of all working-age benefits. We are once again looking at a tale of two Governments, one that prioritises supporting carers with the carers allowance supplement being the first benefit that the new social security Scotland took for and one that places the value of carers right at the bottom of the list. That change of direction by Scotland not only puts money straight into the pockets of carers, but we have heard that it also has an impact on their wellbeing, helping them to feel recognised and valued by the state, which is a concept blatantly absent from the UK Government's approach and one that is particularly important as we consider the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of carers across the country. As my colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy pointed out earlier, many carers do not choose caring, they do it out of necessity, and I think that the Scottish Government's tact and stark approach to the one that I outlined earlier bodes very well as we move towards implementing a national care service that has carers and the people that they care for at its heart. In the social justice and social security committee, we have spent a lot of time listening to some very insightful contributions from witnesses, and I am very aware of the argument that more needs to be done. However, the bill has a very specific scope and it is a good one—extra money for carers at a time of increased pressure. Let's let a good thing happen and support the general principles of the carers allowance supplement bill, which I can hear has quite good support across the chamber today. I now call Martin Whitfield to be followed by Christine Grahame. It is a great pleasure to speak in this stage 1 debate and to follow Emma Roddick. I echo her call for the public recognition that the work carers do. I also echo the support of my colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy and the Scottish Labour Party for the principle of the carers allowance supplement Scotland bill. Who cannot agree that a payment is needed by Scotland's carers and that this payment should be in their bank account as soon as possible? I also welcome that the regulations to provide for future CAS payments to be higher than the calculations that were made under the 2018 act. However, there is always a however. I share the social justice and social security committee's concerns about certain aspects of the bill, which they very clearly set out in their stage 1 report. Unpaid carers provide invaluable support to their loved ones and to our society, and they have done so for years, often having to step up where our struggling care system has failed. Of the estimated 1.1 million carers, only 91,000, less than 10% are eligible for carers allowance and consequently the supplement. The one-off increase allowed by this bill is a bit of a sticking plaster to cover a gaping wound, and I echo those who contributed to the committee's report with the conclusion that in itself it is not sufficient to lift carers out of poverty. Carers Scotland estimated that every day of the Covid-19 pandemic, unpaid carers saved the Scottish Government £43 million in the care that they provide. As a contributor to the report said, the supplement should be doubled permanently. If the Government had to pay for outside agencies to do the work of carers, it would cost a lot more. That person also felt that carers are completely undervalued and forgotten about. That aspect, held by someone who is a carer, is a deep indictment on the top echelons of Scottish society sitting in the Government that those people feel undervalued and forgotten about. However, I would like to take, in the short time that I have, to concentrate on just a couple of matters. The first is in respect of the removal of various services that occurred during the pandemic, and in particular respite. I echo the Minister and emphasise his commitment that carers should have a life of their own and also the convener of the committee of the very great importance that respite gives. I would quote from a lobbying entry published on 23 August, which I think sums it up perfectly from Family Fund. They lobbied to seek improved access to meaningful breaks from caring for unpaid carers, including parent carers of disabled and seriously ill children and young people, and to advocate for the rights-based approach to achieve this, specifically for unpaid carers to have enforceable rights that guarantee them access to the breaks they need to safeguard their own health and wellbeing, not an unrealistic request. I would also like to look at young carers and into particularly the issue where there are multiple siblings in a household and who is able to claim the young carers grant. It is an apparent race. It's a race between caring siblings. Surely carers grant can't be a Solomon's judgment as to who gets to the computer first. Siblings who care do so equally. They do so in love, and they both deserve, or they all deserve, to be supported equally. I hope that the Scottish Government can address that in the very near future. I also want to talk about young carers and the young carers grant. The Government has not proposed to increase the young carers grant in the same way as the supplement, which means that young carers are caring more but without the additional recognition of the increased grant. Young and student carers are four times more likely to drop out of university, and because of their studies, they cannot claim the carers allowance. In summing up, the first step is excellent, and it will certainly get the support from this side of the house and the next steps that we wait to see. I thank the committee, which I am not a member of, for the short but comprehensive report, and as others have done, I put on record my thanks to all carers. I welcome, of course, the carers allowance supplement, but it has reminded me, as if I needed, reminded of the complexity of the UK benefits system. The carers allowance you have got to have 35 hours a week caring for a disabled person who must be in receipt of certain disability benefits, such as attendance allowance and others. However, that twice yearly payment is in advance of the introduction of the Scottish carers allowance assistance, which I know is on the cards. However, notwithstanding limitations, it puts almost £700 extra per annum into the pockets of carers. If you contrast that with the 33,000 carers in Scotland who lose out £20 a week with cuts to universal credit, that is almost £1,000 in the year. I am interested that Ruth Davidson opposes that cut. There, that is what happens when you leave this parish, you grow wings. If I go on to another rule that I was not terribly aware of, because I am not an expert in benefits, who is, there is the overlapping benefits rule, which disallows people from carers allowance. I am going to give an example. That matters if you are a particular carer, for example, a pensioner in receipt of state pension, which, just above the carers allowance, prevents you from getting that allowance, and therefore, as it follows that the carers additional payment in Scotland is piggybacking on that, you do not get that either. I do consider that this is unfair. I notice that, when we move into the other benefit that is coming up, the carers assistance, I want to see this injustice addressed. It is an opportunity to cure some of the illness. Of course, I am very sympathetic to more money going to carers, but there is not a money tree, which there were. There is not a money tree, and we have to know how we can pay for things, not make promises that we cannot pay for. I also want to say that the other issue is that it is crystal clear to me anyway, and I know that you are not going to agree with me necessarily. The UK benefit system is so complex that we would never start from here. It is also extremely difficult for this Parliament to put in, to wedge in its own benefits into another system. Far, far better if the benefit system was in this Parliament when we could integrate it, make it fair, undo this unjust complexity that prevents many people from getting it, and even people who are entitled do not claim because it is so bewildering. Finally, I want to conclude, again putting on record, my thanks to all carers—young, as have been mentioned many, very young indeed, and old—whether they have carers allowance or not, because it is their dedication that has done it on love, in the name of love, duty and responsibility, and takes the burden away from the state, and they deserve to have the money to back them up, and respite. Thank you. I now call Maggie Chapman to be followed by Jeremy Balfour. I am pleased to pledge the Scottish Green Party support for the bill before us today, and I echo the thanks to unpaid carers that have already come from previous speakers. Before the pandemic, it was estimated that there were around 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland, the majority of them women. We have heard already this afternoon that that figure now stands at over a million people. Let us do the maths. The average unpaid carer does 26 hours of carer a week, and the Scottish real living wage is £9.50 an hour. That is £1 million unpaid carers doing £12.8 billion worth of unpaid care. As the Fraser of Allander Institute said just earlier this week, the support delivered by each unpaid carer in their sample of carers saved the taxpayer £114,000 per year. That is a million people providing incredible loving care to a family member or friend, saving us money but going under recognised. They feel that way too. According to the Carers Trust Scotland survey conducted this summer, 36 per cent of people unpaid for family members or friends feel unable to manage their caring role. Almost three quarters of unpaid carers have not had any breaks from their caring role during the pandemic. Only 23 per cent are confident that the support that they receive with caring will continue following the end of the pandemic. That makes the modest extra payment being made through this bill welcome, like winning the lottery according to one respondent to the national carer organisation survey on the bill. Another said that it would allow them to send gifts to my kids, which would be really difficult otherwise. It sounds like luxuries, but it makes the winter look bearable. Those responses show just how little support carers allowance currently offers. Welcome, though it is, the extra supplement that we are discussing is a tiny tweak to an unfair and inadequate system. Of those £1 million unpaid carers, about 90,000, as we have heard, less than 10 per cent currently receive carers allowance, and only those carers will receive that supplement. Some of the more than 90 per cent who do not receive them provide many hours of care, yet fall short of the 35 hours and so get nothing. Yet more will fall foul of the overlapping benefits rule, and some will lose out because they want to work just a few more hours a week. Those who care for more than one person receive at present no additional support or recognition. Submissions to the committee hearings on the bill relay the sad story of a person who cared for 10 years for their elderly mother and father who suffered from dementia and other illnesses. When their father died, they had to reapply for their mother as not a single hour of the loving care for their mother had ever been formally recognised. That is the result, quite frankly, of decades of neglect of carers allowance by both Labour and Conservative UK Governments. However, it does not need to be that way. The Scottish Parliament now has powers to totally transform social security for carers. We can simplify the rules, widen the embarrassingly narrow eligibility criteria, we can increase the amount paid, which even with the supplement is still shockingly low, and we must, because at the moment we are expecting carers to live off less than some members in this chamber would happily spend on a restaurant meal. The new social security system was founded on the principles of dignity and respect, but paying carers support at this rate does not allow them to live in dignity, nor is it respectful. The forthcoming consultation on carers assistance is a real chance to create a fairer deal for carers. It must look at every single option for improving support for carers and be genuinely open to hearing what carers have to say about how support can be improved. Greens will support the bill today, but we do so fully recognising that the extra supplement is only the first step and a small one towards a fairer social security system for carers. I now call Jeremy Balfour, who is joining us remotely, who will be followed by Rona Mackay, who is also joining us remotely. Mr Balfour, up to four minutes, please. I would like to begin, as others have, to thank unpaid carers in Scotland. Like my colleague Pam, I, too, benefit from having someone unpaid who cares for me on a daily basis. Without their help and the help of carers across Scotland, our country would be in a far worse position. It is right and proper that we are fairly supported so that they can continue to look after roads who most need it. It would be unfair for them to be providing such a vital service and not have at least some form of payment. I therefore believe that the carers allowance is an incredibly important scheme to provide such help, and I fully support it. I also believe that the carers allowance supplement is a great way of getting money in the hands of roads who really need it. During difficult seasons, the last thing that carers should have to worry about is money. In that vein, I come to today's debate. I entirely endorse the move for an extra payment to be made to carers this December. December is always a squeeze financially, but coming through these uncertain times, it will potentially be even more so this year. That is why I think that it is a good idea to provide extra help to carers in the form of the extra payment. However, I do think that it is worth considering whether or not we should extend the extra payment to every year until the new Scottish carers allowance is in place hopefully by 2025. I am afraid that I do not accept the minister's explanation of why that cannot be in primary legislation. After all, we pay payments such as PIP, attendance allowance, on an annual basis. We know that that is going to have to be budgeted for, and we do that. If a political will is there, it can happen. If the Government does not move on this, it would be my intention to bring amendments at stage 2 to make sure that that happens. The great thing is that it is something that we can do in this Parliament. Too often, the SNP, the Green Coalition Government, criticised the UK Government for not doing things. We are here to turn for this Parliament. We have the power, the authority and the ability to enact this crucial policy, and we need to find a will. Deputy Presiding Officer, there is another issue that was picked up by the minister. I manage in regard to the scrutiny of any further regulations coming forward. I do think that this is something that the committee will need to look at at stage 2 and possibly the whole Parliament at stage 3. However, I would be interested in his summing up to know whether he believes that it should be affirmative or super-affirmative in regard to the regulations. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr Balfour. I now call Rona Mackay, who will be the last speaker in the open debate. Up to four minutes, please, Ms Mackay. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Carers are the unsum heroes of our nation. No one can do that. Without them, society would ground to a halt. That is why the double payment of the carers allowance supplement this winter, in recognition of the additional pressure carers face as a result of the pandemic, is so vital and so necessary. Improving support for carers is one of the Scottish Government's first priorities with its new social security powers. As Little Wonder, the immense contribution to our society by caring for family, friends and neighbours simply cannot be overstated. The Parliament passes this bill at stage 1 today. It will be the first step for more than 91,000 carers in receipt of the carers allowance supplement to receive an extra £231.40 doubling the December payment to £462.80. This extra investment forecast to be £21 million will be the second time that the Scottish Government has doubled the carers allowance supplement. The past 18 months have been tough for everyone in different ways as we cope with this devastating pandemic, but carers' roles, difficult to the best of times, have been even more challenging, many taking on additional tasks and facing higher costs of looking after people staying at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In normal time, carers Scotland estimated that the economic value of the contribution made by carers in Scotland is £10.8 billion per year. The latest Carers UK Unseen and Unvalued report indicates that this has increased the one-paid care worth £43 million per day in Scotland during the pandemic, and that is astonishing. The report that was published in October last year looks at the on-going impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and is based on the experiences of current and former carers. It found that four in five unpaid carers, 81 per cent, were currently providing more care than before lockdown. The need for respite care, as we have heard from other members, is crucial. It has always been important, but what we have been through brings a new focus on that. In the midst of the pandemic, I was contacted by carer constituents desperate for a break, but due to the pandemic, that was not possible. My heart went out to them, and I cannot imagine what they were going through. The Scottish Government has invested an additional £28.5 million for local carers support in this year's budget, bringing total investment in the carers act to £60 million per year. I am delighted that that includes £1.4 million holiday vouchers to provide those vital and short breaks. The Carers Scotland Act 2016 introduced the right for all carers to an adult carer support plan, or a young carer's statement to identify each carer's personal outcomes and need for support. The supplement increases carers allowance by around 13 per cent and is only available in Scotland. That tells its own story, Presiding Officer. Doubling the carer supplement is a good news story, but Westminster tells the very bad news story. Although we are increasing payments to those who need it, the Westminster Tory Government is cutting benefits by removing the £20 universal credit supplement in the middle of a pandemic. If we ever needed a better illustration of a tale of two Governments, that is it. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, let's recognise the invaluable and vital work being done by thousands of carers throughout Scotland by passing the bill at stage 1 today. We will now move to closing speeches, and I call Paul O'Kane to close for Labour. In closing for Scottish Labour, I want to begin as colleagues have done universally across the chamber by paying tribute to unpaid carers across Scotland. Throughout the debate this afternoon, we have heard very powerfully about the lives of carers in every community in a diversity of families and in a range of caring settings. As with all of our debates on those issues, I think that it is key that we always reflect the voices of carers and that they must be central to our considerations. Real people, not abstract numbers or financial calculations. As my colleague Pam Duncan Glancy said in her characteristically powerful opening speech, this is about the people who take on caring roles to enable others to live their lives to the full. We have heard about the serious challenges that are faced by carers, and I will come on to them in a moment. We on the benches agree that the payment is needed by Scotland's carers and should be in their bank accounts before Christmas, and that is why we will back the principles of the bill at decision time. However, we have concerns, as has been outlined by my colleagues and share the social justice and social security committee's concerns about certain aspects of the bill, which were set out in the stage 1 report by the committee, on the basis of evidence from carers and carer organisations. I note the convener's meal-grade contribution in that regard. Martin Whitfield spoke about the one of increase being a sticking plaster to cover a gaping wind. I think that there is something in that, Presiding Officer. Indeed, those who contributed to the committee's report concluded that it was not sufficient in order to lift carers out of poverty. A third of carers are struggling to pay utility bills. 47 per cent have been in debt and half are struggling to make ends meet, cutting back on food and heating as a result. We have heard colleagues speaking about those issues and those painful decisions that have to be made, and Maggie Chapman referenced some of that in her contribution. We believe that the bill must increase the supplement on a permanent basis until the new carers assistance benefit is introduced. As we have already heard, carers in Scotland have estimated that, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, every single day, unpaid carers have saved the Scottish Government £43 million in the care that they have provided. Carers feel undervalued and forgotten about in the midst of that unprecedented situation. The Scottish Government has promised to introduce carers' assistance, the new benefit that will replace carers allowance by 2025, but that means that Scotland's unpaid carers will have to wait years. I thank the member for taking an intervention. The Government has expressed that we are working towards full-case transfer before 2025, but just for clarity, we intend to introduce Scottish carers' assistance much before 2025 to new applications. 392,000 people have become carers overnight because of the pandemic. We are now 18 months in and unpaid carers are exhausted, overworked and feel under appreciated. We have heard a lot this afternoon about the access to respite services, and people are not being able to access them in the normal way. Indeed, people feel that they do not have the right support at the right time. Pam Duncan-Glancy and Willie Rennie stated that, although the bill is providing that one-off increase, it gives the power for future payments of the supplement, but it is not guaranteed. Pam Duncan-Glancy's intervention to the minister showed that we do not yet have that confirmation in terms of what further increases will look like. Indeed, Pam Duncan-Glancy went on to highlight the constraints that are in the bill in terms of being able to amend, time for scrutiny and consultation with that wider group of carers that we would all want to see. That is why we have said here in Scottish Labour that we will seek to bring amendments to stage 2, as I outlined, and we will want to continue to engage with carers on the issues that are important to them. I welcome Willie Rennie's contribution in that regard that he will support us in that motion. Although the measure is a positive, it is temporary and we must look at how we support carers more widely who are stressed, burnt out and feeling undervalued, and sadly, as we have heard all too often, ignored. It has been the most unimaginable 18 months for them. Many have had little or no access to rest-bite services, many are still battling to have these services and support packages restarted and many feel that they simply have not had a break. Some have even said that the only rest-bite that they have had is when they have been hospitalised themselves, and that is completely unacceptable. As we debate measures such as the bill and as the Government consults on the national care service, we must hear what carers tell us will make a real and meaningful difference. Carers want to see a plan of how services will be reinstated to pre-pandemic levels. They want assurances that, where smaller, targeted, specialist services are in place, they will be protected and supported, and where they have closed, alternatives will be provided. Young carers, as we have heard from Miles Briggs and others, want to know how they will be supported to return to learning, having juggled online learning and caring responsibilities, and indeed how they will be supported financially to return to university or college or school. In closing, while the bill is a step to put more money into the pockets of carers that are welcome, there is much more to do, and Scottish Labour looks forward to working with carers to get them the right support at the right time and the right place, because that is what they deserve. I now call on Alexander Stewart to wind up for the Conservatives, and I can be equally generous with Mr Stewart. I am very grateful for the opportunity to close the debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. It has been said that unpaid carers are the backbone of our social care system, and I would hold heartily agree with that statement. I also pay tribute to young carers. The doubling of the carers allowance supplement in December will provide a meaningful financial boost to many who have suffered financially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, throughout the debate, we have heard in some detail the benefits that the legislation will bring unpaid carers across Scotland who have endured significant financial burdens over the past 18 months. Multiple organisations, including Care Scotland, Careers Trust and Sins Advice Scotland, have detailed, to the extent that that has happened, and the periods of lockdown and those individuals who have suffered. Research from the carers Scotland has also shown that 80 per cent of Scottish carers report that the needs of the care that they have endured during the pandemic, and half the carers have said that the impact has had a major impact on their health and wellbeing. The fact that so many carers have faced additional hardships is only made worse for the fact that they have had to endure the pandemic and provide care during that time. Care Scotland has estimated, and we have heard that already today in the chamber, that across Scotland there has been an increase of £400,000 during the pandemic. Given all of that, it is clear that the decision to provide additional financial support for our unpaid carers is not just only what is justified but what is necessary. I will. Christine Grahame, I thank Mr Stewart for taking the intervention. Do you agree with Ruth Davidson that the £20 per week cut to universal credit should be reversed? I thank the member for that intervention. I, as many of my colleagues, still are lobbying and still having to make discussions with our colleagues in Westminster, and personally, Ms Grahame, I have some real sympathy with that proposal. I will continue to do the lobbying, and I will continue to make that heard from this Parliament to other members in another Parliament. Given all that, it is clear, as I said, that the financial support and assistance is very much necessary, but it is perhaps disappointing that the Government did not see fit to carry out more consultation on how best to provide additional support. It is nevertheless reassuring that the care sector and stakeholders welcomed the fact, and that was heard and given evidence at the committee. Although I and my Scottish Conservative colleagues also welcomed the doubling of the carers allowance support, that only makes it more disappointing that the SNP's delivery of its own devolved benefits has left much to be desired. I only spoke last week in this chamber and highlighted the fact that, for example, it will take the SNP nine years to take full responsibility of welfare powers devolved to the SNP in 2016. Does the member accept the significant achievement and contribution that it is making in communities across Scotland of the fact that the Scottish Government has brought in seven new benefits, which are part of the 11 benefits that Social Security Scotland now delivers? Minister, you rightly applaud yourself, but we have been waiting decades for information and processes to come forward, and I want to continue. It is still for the Scottish unpaid carers to the SNP that are failing to properly capitalise on the welfare powers that they already have. For example, we have proposed a raft of measures to improve carers allowance, such as to ensure that the receipt of benefits to continue receiving it for six months after bereavement. That provides carers with a much more time to compare. I have a lot to cover and I would like to try to make some progress. We would also like to see the current means test replaced with a taper system, which would greatly reduce any of the entitlements for carers allowance. We also believe that entitlement should be extended to carers in full-time education, who are also able to support themselves through part-time work and compared to other students. All of those are within the gift of the Government, and they can choose to move on it if they wish. Presiding Officer, there have been many contributions in the debate this afternoon, and I would like to highlight some of them. The minister himself, Ben Macpherson, talked about the challenges. Those challenges are many and varied, but progress needs to be made, Minister, and you are well aware of that. Miles Briggs talked about the amount of young carers—45,000 young carers in Scotland—and we need to ensure that they are protected and supported as much as they can. They are also able to receive healthcare to support the vulnerable that they are dealing with. Pam Duncan-Glancy, as always, makes a very strong contribution. She made some very strong points today about carers doing not often what they have a choice. They sometimes have no choice, and they step up and stand up and support. Willie Rennie spoke about the uncertainty of carers, and that is a very valid point, and that service will take some time to completely reinstate what happened in the past prior to the pandemic. We owe you watching to see what happens with reference to that minister. Rachel Hamilton talked about the respite and individuals with autism and the support that they require to ensure that they and their families can get. Jamie Balfour spoke about extending payments to the potential bill and about scrutiny. It is also vitally important that we understand what we are attempting to do and what kind of implications it will have for many in the caring sector. In conclusion, the bill shows Parliament working exactly the way it was intended. It devolves Scottish welfare powers supported by and made possible by the broad financial shoulders of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Conservatives will, of course, support the general principles of the bill, and as I said, it shows once again working in progress from both Parliaments. I would now call on Ben Macpherson to wind up for the Scottish Government, and if the minister would take us to decision time, that would be great. Thank you to all members who have contributed to this important debate this afternoon. It is clear from the debate that we have undertaken together that there is cross-party support for the bill, which I, of course, very much welcome. Amongst all of us, it is also clear recognition how much we recognise and appreciate the remarkable role that carers across Scotland play day in, day out and have played during the pandemic. Of course, we also recognise the impact that it has had on them. I thought that Pam Duncan Glancy, Marie McNair and Rachel Hamilton spoke very powerfully on those points based on their own or constituents' experiences. As I have emphasised many times before, and as other ministers have emphasised at the start of the debate, we as a Government, of course, are committed to building a social security system based on the principles of dignity, fairness and respect that we were committed to as a Parliament in 2018. As part of that, the bill intends to offer support to carers across Scotland who have been under that additional pressure as a result of the pandemic. We, through that legislation, intend to make sure that we are paying that additional amount in December so that families have that resource for the festive period. The first payment of the carers allowance supplement, which was made by Social Security Scotland back in 2018, of course, increases the carers allowance by around 13 per cent. The payment that was made in June last year and the payment that we are envisaging making in December is therefore an increase on top of an increase to the existing position of carers allowance. I thank the minister for giving way and I would like to make the point that I would have to Alexander Stewart if he would give away in the considerable time that he had around this. I ask the minister to expand on how Scottish Carers Assistance and the carers supplement right now provides considerably extra support to carers in Scotland compared to elsewhere in the UK. Can he also outline the challenges of building the new Scottish Carers Assistance based on the very low level of policy and financial resource that is committed, the baseline that is received by the Scottish Government from the UK system that is herited? Thank Neil Gray for that intervention and he makes important points. Of course, the position with regard to the additional amount is that, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, that this increased payment that we are envisaging in this bill means that carers in Scotland will receive £694.20 more than carers south of the border this year. It is important to think about that in context in a position in which the UK Government is imminently planning to cut universal credit by £20. It is the tale of two Governments. Does that not prove that it is an entirely Scottish approach that you are taking? You have the carers allowance power since 2016 and we are now in 2021. Do you not believe that this is the intention that you are wanting to achieve? I do not want to be overly party political, but it finds it quite interesting to reflect historically that there are three parties lobbying us today to do more things when not so long ago they did not want this Parliament to have powers over social security. However, just for clarity within the fiscal framework, it is important to recognise that when the Scottish Government provides social security provision that is reflective of what the UK Government provides, we receive a transfer of resource from that from the UK Treasury. However, anything additional that we do, like the £20 million that we are planning to spend as part of this bill, we have to meet that from our budgets. That is us going above and beyond and doing the right thing, but it is important that people understand how it relates to the wider scenario. I will, yes. Pam Duncan-Dancy? Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you Minister for taking that intervention. Of course, no one would expect that if we are creating something here that we would not be considering the cost of it, but we have heard a couple of times across the chamber today about there not being a magic money tree. However, I do not believe that that actually helps unpaid carers out there right now, who literally said to us that love will not pay the bills. They really need the Scottish Government and both Governments, frankly, to get on with putting more money in their pockets and using all the powers that we have. I would urge you, in your answer to my colleague Paul O'Kane earlier, when you said that you would try and bring it forward before 2025 for carers assistance. I would urge you and ask you again to do that as quickly as you possibly can and use all the powers that this Parliament already has. I am absolutely happy to give that undertaking that we will bring Scottish Carers Assistance in as quickly as possible. Quite rightly, Pam Duncan-Dancy and others in this debate have said that we want to do more. We as a Government want to do more, and we are moving at pace to do that. In three years, we have delivered 11 benefits, seven of which are new. That is using the powers, that is making a difference, that is building an agency that gives a positive contribution in communities across Scotland, and we will continue that work. Just for awareness, as well as what we are doing in relation to the bill, it is important to recognise that that is alongside the on-going development of Scottish Carers Assistance, which I will come to in a moment. However, we are also committed to providing extra support to people caring for more than one disabled child, and considering how best to extend that to support those caring for more than one disabled person of any age. I want to put that point for clarity. As has been said by others, and it is an important point of emphasis, the bill that is before us today for consideration is not the place to consider the future of carers allowance. That is for Scottish Carers Assistance. There will be further opportunities to consider the application process and eligibility rules as we develop Scottish Carers Assistance. That will include questions around full-time education that Mr Whitfield rightly emphasised, questions around underlying entitlement that Christine Graham rightly emphasised, and a whole range of different options—15 options—as part of an options analysis that we intend to consult on the proposals for Scottish Carers Assistance this winter. Of course, as I mentioned, that is very much impacted by the integral engagement that we have to have with the DWP on the transfer of carers allowance. We are grateful for the on-going constructive engagement between our officials and the input from UK ministers on that, and we will commence the feasibility work for Scottish Carers Assistance with the DWP in this quarter, as I mentioned in the opening remarks. Our aim is to begin to build the systems to deliver Scottish Carers Assistance in the new year. We anticipate that that will take a minimum of 18 months, given the complex interactions between the carer benefits and the reserve benefits system, as I mentioned, and we will keep Parliament updated on that work. Just to reiterate, we intend to bring it forward as quickly as possible. That is before 2025 for new applications, and I just want to emphasise that point. I just want to cover briefly, in the time remaining, a point that Jeremy Balfour raised, and he asked me to cover it specifically, which is about scrutiny procedures for the enabling power. During the development of the bill, we considered the use of the affirmative procedure appropriate, given the nature of the provision and the fact that its use involves modification of primary legislation. It is therefore appropriate that the Scottish Parliament is afforded the higher level of scrutiny of any proposal by Scottish ministers to increase the amount of the payment of Scottish Carers allowance supplement for a particular period. The Scottish Commission on Social Security plays an important role, a really important role, in providing a detailed level of scrutiny of draft social security regulations, which are often very complex. However, given the changes that can be made under the regulations that are limited in this instance to increasing the level of the supplement for a specific period or period, we do not consider that the further enhanced level of scrutiny provided by SCOS is necessary in this case. There has been widespread stakeholder support for the bill. For example, the chief executive vocal said that we believe that the coronavirus allowance supplement is a positive step towards valuing the role of carers as equal partners in care and recognising their crucial contribution to Scotland's economy. Others have provided supportive comments through the process of the stage 1 evidence and in the public domain as well. I am pleased that there is such widespread support across the chamber for the general principles of the bill. I note the points that have been made in good faith to support carers in our communities through the process of this debate, and we will consider them together through stages 2 and 3. I thank all members for their contributions in scrutinising the bill so far. That underlines our collective commitment to improving support for unpaid carers all across our country as a priority through our social security powers. I look forward to working with colleagues to further progress the bill and Scottish carers assistance in due course. I commend the motion in my name and hope that the Parliament will allow the bill to proceed to stage 2. That concludes the debate on carers allowance supplement Scotland bill. It is now time to move on to the next item of business.