Scottish Government has launched a consultation on the new right to breaks for unpaid carers, and is seeking views on proposed options about how to implement this right, via an online survey.

The right to breaks provisions in 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 cannot currently access “sufficient breaks” from caring.

This consultation is designed as an opportunity for the right to breaks to be shaped by the unpaid carers it aims to support, and the organisations which will help deliver these breaks.

Scottish Government believes that the right to breaks has the potential to be transformative for unpaid carers, but acknowledges that planning and delivery must recognise the current challenges unpaid carers and services face. “The time for effective and meaningful change to short breaks is now.”

Roundtable Events

To gather as much information and input as possible, Shared Care Scotland is holding two online roundtable events for people to share their views, taking place on:

Friday 27 March 2026, 10:30am – 12pm: BOOKING LINK
Tuesday 21 April 2026, 10:30am – 12pm: BOOKING LINK

For further information on these events, please contact the Shared Care Scotland communications team by email: comms@sharedcarescotland.com

Submit Your Response

The deadline for responses is Friday 22 May 2026.

To submit your response, or for further information (including all consultation papers), please visit the Scottish Government website (linked for your convenience).