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Carers' Accolade for John Swinney MSP

John Swinney, SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament for North Tayside, was named 'Scottish Parliamentarian of the Year 2006' by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers on Monday 13 November.

At the Trust Carers Award event in Glasgow, attended by HRH The Princess Royal, John received his award from TV presenter Carol Smilie and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers Fund-raising Director, Elaine McGonigle. The award was made in respect of John's parliamentary work to promote the interests of carers and to expand the support given to carers by central and local government.

John's involvement in improving support for carers started after he was approached by two young carers who raised concerns with him about the lack of support for young people who undertake caring duties for parents or siblings at home. He tabled a parliamentary motion supporting the work of young carers that attracted a huge amount of support across all parties.

The debate resulted in the Scottish Executive giving greater attention to the plight of young carers. John has been involved in a number of initiatives with carers' organisations and was one of the founder members of the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party group on Carers.

At local level John has been an active supporter of the Perth and Kinross Young Carers project based at the Gateway Centre in Perth and recently launched in information pack for Young Carers in Angus.

After receiving the award, the MSP said: "I feel deeply honoured to have received this award. I have the highest respect for the many thousands of individuals who act as carers in our society. They make a selfless contribution to the quality of life of their loved ones and our society owes them a great debt.

"My interest in this area of policy started when I was approached by two young carers, concerned about the lack of long-term support for their project. I had never considered how much of a responsibility these young people carried and was determined to do what I could to increase attention on their position. As a result of a lot of parliamentary work I can begin to see the signs of an improvement in the services available to young carers and I am determined to ensure this progress is maintained.

"My work with young carers, and carers in general, has been one of the most enriching experiences of my parliamentary work, and I look forward to working with individuals in all parties to expand the services available to carers. I think there is an urgent need to ensure there is more respite care available and also a greater commitment to ensure that services required by carers are delivered by Government. Carers give so much to our society. We need to support them in what they do."