The first vote on the controversial National Care Service will be pushed beyond June to allow for “compromise” to be reached with critics, according to an SNP Minister. The legislation has been criticised by local authorities and trade unions for its lack of detail.
Under the changes, adult social care would be taken out of the hands of local authorities and given to newly formed, regional care boards which would ultimately be responsible to ministers. This could potentially also happen in other areas including drug and alcohol services and children’s’ services.
The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill was paused earlier this year with the initial vote slated for June 28. But a letter from newly appointed social care minister Maree Todd has said she will seek to push the date beyond the summer recess.
Todd said in a letter to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee: “This Government remains committed to delivering a National Care Service to improve quality, fairness and consistency of provision that meets individuals’ needs. The scale of this ambition will require the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill to progress in order to ensure sustainable social care services moving forward.
“We wish to use the time ahead of the stage one debate to find compromise and reach consensus with those who have raised concerns during the stage one scrutiny undertaken so far. As you note, the stage one debate is currently timetabled for the end of June.
“However, we see value in continuing engagement and co-design activities through summer before moving to the next stage of the Bill. As you are aware, stage one deadlines for Bills are agreed by Parliament. Therefore, it is my intention that the minister for parliamentary business will seek Parliament’s approval, via the parliamentary bureau, to extend the stage one deadline beyond June.”
It is not yet clear when the Scottish Government intends to hold the first vote. The Government has come under fire for its co-design approach to the Bill.
This will see framework legislation passed by MSPs before ministers use regulations to fill in the detail of the care service. Todd said the Government would “continue and deepen” its co-design efforts, by holding a series of “regional forums”.
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