West Lothian Carers Husting - 18 April 2007

West Lothian Carers hosted a Question Time event on 18 Apr to launch their manifesto and discuss the key issues facing carers in the community. I was very pleased to be invited to participate in this event to raise the profile on the invaluable work of carers in West Lothian. I believe that we must do more to promote their work and to support it - not just with our words, but with meaningful action and longterm commitments. Their work is of tremendous value, not only to the people they care for, but also to the wider community at large. We must support them by establishing improved respite facilities, with greater accessability to more people, by providing enhanced training for carers, by improving the processes involved in assessing care needs to reduce waiting times, by raising awareness and making information more available to those who care for others, and by working with the Government at Westminster to restructure Carers Allowance to reduce the excessive restrictions which currently serve to devalue and demean the contribution of carers within out society.