MSPs unanimously approve scaled-back social care reforms

MSPs have voted to approve a set of scaled-back social care reforms after plans for a National Care Service were scrapped.

The Care Reform (Scotland) Bill passed the third and final stage of Holyrood on Tuesday.

The Scottish Government proposed to shift accountability for providing social care to ministers and create local bodies that would be responsible for administering care under the National Care Service.

The plans faced opposition from political parties, local authorities and trade unions, resulting in them being removed from Bill despite around £30 million being spent on its development.

The name of the Bill was eventually changed to the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill and it was passed with the support of 116 MSPs on Tuesday.

Councillors debated a list of amendments on the bill at the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government says the bill will strengthen support for unpaid carers by establishing a legal right to breaks following £13m being allocated for up to 40,000 carers to take voluntary sector short breaks.

It aims to improve access to independent advocacy and to create a national chief social work adviser role.

Speaking about the failed proposals for the creation of a National Care Service, Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “Let’s not pretend we’ve arrived at this moment by design.

“We’re here because of yet another SNP policy that promised the world and delivered a fiasco.

“The now defunct National Care Service Bill was once hailed as the most significant reform to health and social care since the creation of the NHS.

“But, in reality, it was a half-baked plan dreamt up by ministers, clearly in an ivory tower that was dead in the water before the ink had dried on the first draft.”

While Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “The way we care for our most vulnerable is more important than party politics.

“That is why Scottish Labour committed to help the Scottish Government deliver such a service, but as I warned at the time, the devil would be in the detail.”

The Scottish Government, Baillie claimed, “attempted a power grab”.

“Four years later, three first ministers later, three health secretaries later and £31m later and what we have before us is a drastically reduced Bill with not a National Care Service in sight, and not a single extra penny of that money going directly to social care,”

Despite the changes, social care minister Maree Todd said the Government remained committed to the creation of a National Care Service.

She said: “More than 200,000 people across Scotland access care each year.

“Anyone may need care during their lives, and that care should be high quality and delivered consistently across Scotland.

“That is why we have been so determined to bring forward much-needed reform, alongside the work we are already doing through the near £2.2bn total investment in social care and integration in 2025-26.

“Reform is not easy to deliver and it is being made more challenging by recent UK Government changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions and changes to migration. These will undoubtedly impact on care delivery.

“However, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to deliver the sustainable change to social care that people urgently need.

“This is a significant step that will strengthen the rights of people living in care homes, support unpaid carers and social workers and improve experiences for the many people who access social care across Scotland.”