Appendix 2 – SDS Consultation
Perth and Kinross Council · 4 February 2026
Back to Learning and Families Committee — 4 February 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
Appendix 2 SDS Consultation February 2025 People told us that the main barriers to successfully using SDS Option 1 included; difficulties with finding and retaining PAs, the pressure of managing the relevant administrative aspects of the employer role, and a lack of privacy when support took place in their own homes. There was increased difficulty in recruiting PAs in rural areas which resulted in an inequitable service dependent on geography. People talked about PAs not having clear career paths and that having short blocks of work and a lack of job security made it difficult to retain staff. It was felt that having PAs available through an agency would help to improve retention and increase access to training and development opportunities. It was recognised that finding PAs can become more difficult as children move into adolescence and as the complexity of their needs increases. We asked people what they currently use their SDS package for ‘To provide respite for parents and sibling to spend quality time together. At least that is in theory, in practice we have paused our SDS because we can’t find staff who are both reliable and interested’ ‘A PA to take our son to some clubs to increase social opportunities and promote his independence. Without support these clubs would nor be accessible to him’ ‘SHIP holiday clubs’ ‘I am a carer for my two disabled daughters. I use it for support in the summer holidays or to support with their activities or physio. I am always present’ People told us that they sometimes used SDS funding for other things when they were unable to recruit PAs. ‘SHIP, a cleaner once a month, a family break away and redecorating of child’s bedroom which is required due to his disability. PAs when I am able to employ them’ We asked people what their SDS support would look like if there were no barriers. People told us that there would be more options in rural areas and that some suggested a financial incentive to assist with rural PA recruitment. Parents and carers told us that they find it intrusive to have support provided in their homes and that to have a meaningful break they would need to leave their home while
Page 2
support is being provided. For most families this is inconvenient and cost prohibitive. Having access to support outside of the family home was noted as something that would be beneficial. ‘I would like to a have a respite service where my daughter could stay over’ ‘overnight short breaks’ People told us that they would like support to be available at weekends and during the school holidays. ‘Every Saturday or Sunday morning, our daughter would be taken our for activities and fun for four hours, to allow us (her parents) time to do something together’ ‘More Summer clubs where they could go and SDS could pay for this’ Some people said that a pool of PAs would be beneficial rather than having to recruit on an individual basis through Option 1. ‘It would help if the council employed the carers in a similar way to the HART team so that there was a pool of carers for children and young adults with additional needs available to all families’ Whilst the consultation focused on SDS it is important to acknowledge that Woodlea was recognised as providing vital overnight short breaks support to families and that several people spoke about the wish for increased time at Woodlea. We asked people to outline any difficulties they have experienced with SDS People spoke highly of the support offered by SHIP however it was noted that this was not always a suitable service for older teenagers. People told us that the process of becoming an Option 1 employer was time consuming and confusing and some people said that they would prefer for the council to arrange support for them. Parents/carers told us that it can be difficult to find and retain PAs and that there was no contingency if PAs were unwell or on holiday. Managing PA recruitment, timesheets and payments was reported to be a complicated process for already time poor parent carers. ‘The biggest difficulty is availability of our daughter’s PA. We live semi-rurally so not a huge amount of choice. Her PA is fabulous, therefore is in great demand. The main times we want support for our daughter is over the weekend and naturally the busy full-time PA doesn’t want her weekends taken up too often. I find it just another thing to keep on top of’ ‘As a parent carer I am responsible for the PA and I have to manage her, personally I find that very hard. I also find having someone in my home very hard, the carer is respectful of my privacy but it is still very stressful’
Page 3
‘The perceived and realised benefits probably don’t align due to the admin work which comes with it. I have employer responsibilities, monthly payroll etc and the administration is complex and time consuming’ Some parents/carers felt that the demand for PAs meant that they were less likely to find someone if their child’s care needs were more complex. ‘It is very hard to find staff to spend the funds on. In the past two years we have not found a single one who has the capacity to reliably care for our child on a weekly basis. People who are good can pick and choose their postings, and we struggle due to geography and the fact that our child is non verbal which requires carers to learn how else they communicate, we are not anybody’s first choice’ We asked people if they felt that they had unmet needs in relation to SDS People told us that they would benefit from increased access to overnight short breaks and support at the weekends. ‘With regards to the amount of funding we receive, I think it’s enough… It’s just how to use the funding to benefit our daughter and us a family regularly. More overnight respite especially at the weekend would be helpful’ ‘With SDS you can’t completely switch off, if you are employing someone you have to ensure their wellbeing. There is a huge difference in the value between SDS hours and our Woodlea allocation. Woodlea helps me so much, it means I get a chance to properly rest. I would love more Woodlea dates, especially in the summer holidays’ ‘We are grateful for the funding but we have struggled to spend it on PAs so our quality time is restricted’ ‘We desperately need respite and this is unmet, in our case we would need two workers for this to happen in our home and that isn’t in our package’ We asked people to list the factors that they would want to be considered if PKC were to buy in a PA service The prospect of having access to PA support from an agency and without being responsible for recruitment and employment, was welcome to many of the people who took part in the consultation. ‘less hoops needing jumped through, and less responsibility placed on the family to arrange it all as it’s yet another thing to try to sort out when most parent carers are already struggling’ People told us that they would like to be able to access support at the weekends and overnight and to have access to increased support during periods of crisis.
Page 4
It was important that staff would be consistent and able to build positive and ongoing relationships with children, young people and their families. ‘Flexibility, local access to support, crisis support and reducing changes of carers are the most important factors to me’ ‘A chance to check people will meet your child’s needs, you get on with them and an opportunity to build up trust’ ‘Reliability, familiarity and a crisis response would all be important to us. We would not want an ever revolving cast of people who didn’t know our child or our home’