Carer's Allowance Supplement

As an amendment to motion S5M-16012 in the name of Mark Griffin (Carer's Allowance Supplement), leave out from "rejects" to end and insert "welcomes the immense contribution that carers make to society, caring for family, friends and neighbours; recognises that the introduction of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement (CAS) has increased financial support to carers by 13% and put an extra £442 a year in people’s pockets in 2018-19, which is an investment in carers of over £33 million; further recognises the Scottish Government’s use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as an uprating mechanism, which, in 2019-20, will increase CAS to £452.40, which is an investment of around £37 million in carers; notes that CPI is used as the Bank of England’s inflation target; further notes that the Office for National Statistics deems the Retail Price Index (RPI) a very poor measure of inflation; acknowledges that RPI lost its status as a National Statistic in 2013; further acknowledges that there is a consensus among economists and statisticians that RPI does not meet international standards, and agrees that the Scottish Government should not use RPI as a measure to uprate benefits for these reasons."