Drop ‘Botched’ Plans For National Care Service Scottish Government Urged

Scottish Health secretary Neil Gray has been urged to drop plans for a National Care Service (NCS) as it emerged the proposals have already cost the taxpayer over £28 million and comes just days after councils withdrew support for proposed legislation in a major blow to ministers.

Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie told the Scottish Parliament that to date, all there is to show for the NCS is “botched legislation”.

The service, which has already been delayed by three years, would see the transfer of social care responsibility from councils to a new national service.

Ms Baillie told the health secretary that the Scottish Government “hadn’t been listening” to Cosla and that the more than £10m that has been spent on creating the bill “will not make a difference to social care now”, while “care packages are being cut, direct payments slashed, services are being removed, and staff are leaving”.

Mr Gray said it is “disappointing that Cosla has taken this step” and described it as “pre-emptive” and said that the government had already made “substantial changes” to the proposals at their request of local authorities.

“Uppermost in our minds and I am sure in theirs is the need of the people who rely on care services,” he said.

Council body Cosla said its members had concerns about the proposed legislation and that several organisations – including those in the care sector – had expressed doubt over the government’s approach.

The GMB and Unison unions also withdrew their support for the proposals earlier this month.

Ms Ballie contended that the proposed bill “doesn’t resemble the recommendations of the Feeley Review” and that the latest withdrawal follows that of “all three social care trade unions”, while it faces criticism from NHS chief executives and board chairs.

She said: “The substance of the bill is to create another quango which is not expected to be established until 2028 or 2029.

“It does nothing to improve social care just now.”

Scottish Conservative deputy health spokeswoman Tess White said:
“Enough is enough, the nationalists need to pull the plug on their unaffordable, centralised power grab which no-one supports, before a further penny of scarce resources is wasted.

“It’s just common sense that every penny allocated to this flawed bill should be given to cash-strapped councils, who understand local care needs far better than SNP bureaucrats in Edinburgh.”