Social Care Minister Maree Todd will update Holyrood later on the future of the National Care Service, which is widely expected to be dropped. The original plan – the showpiece of this term of SNP government – was to transfer social care responsibility from councils to a new national board. However the idea does not have sufficient support to get through parliament. A source told BBC Scotland an advisory board would be set up in its place. This should mean that a number of smaller reforms in the National Care Service Bill can become law.
If the National Care Service plan is dropped, it will be the latest blow to hit one of the SNP government’s major policies. Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described plans for the service as the most ambitious reform since devolution when it was announced in 2021. Ministers said the service, inspired by the NHS, would end the “postcode lottery” in care provision and ensure “consistently high-quality care”. But opposition parties have repeatedly questioned whether the Scottish government could afford to set up and manage the service effectively.
Council body Cosla and trade unions have withdrawn their support for the project, while a number of health boards and care organisations have also expressed serious concerns. The Scottish Greens also withdrew their backing in October last year, meaning the SNP no longer had enough support to get the measures through Holyrood.
When the plans were further delayed in November, First Minister John Swinney said more time was needed to consider views and “get the proposals right”. Todd previously said she was “absolutely committed” to the plans after the latest delay was announced. Health secretary Neil Gray said the plans had been “delayed, not scrapped”. Rachel Cackett, chief executive of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers, said she now expected “significant” sections of the bill to be removed in the latest announcement.
Some smaller reforms contained in the bill do retain support at Holyrood. Anne’s law, which allows people in care homes to receive visits from a named love one even in restricted measures, is expected to pass as part of the legislation. It is named after Anne Duke, who died aged 63 in November 2021 after being cut off from her family while battling early-onset dementia during the Covid pandemic. Her family has campaigned for a change in the law, which was put into national standards in March 2022.
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