Scottish Government scraps National Care Service plan

Key Points

The Scottish Government is to confirm it is ditching plans to form a National Care Service
The Government said previously said it was ‘committed’ to creating a new service as it suspended progress on the flagship Bill
The service would have taken social care responsibility away from councils
The plans were a flagship SNP policy announced under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership in 2021
The SNP has been accused of spending £28m on the proposals
Local councils, trade unions and the Scottish Greens had withdrawn support for the plans
Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats have also said they would not back the Bill

The Scottish Government is to confirm it has abandoned its National Care Service plan.

The proposals were to centralise adult social care and social work in Scotland, making ministers ultimately accountable for their delivery.

STV News reported that the plans were being scrapped in November last year.

It followed intense criticism after it emerged that more than £28m had been spent on devising the service since 2021.

Councils and trade unions across Scotland withdrew their support for the plan, and in October, the Scottish Greens announced that they would not support the Bill.

Since kicking the Greens out of government, the SNP are running a minority administration and without cross-party support, the National Care Service Bill was doomed.

Social care minister Maree Todd. STV News

Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats had also said they would not back the Bill.

The Scottish Government has ditched the first part of the Bill, which would form the new centralised service.

Social care minister Maree Todd is expected to confirm the plans have been scrapped in a statement to parliament on Thursday afternoon.

The UK Government has its own plans to create a National Care Service as part of long-term reform of the social care system in England.

History of the National Care Service – delays, rows, and rising costs

The National Care Service was first announced by then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in 2021 – as the “most ambitious reform since devolution”.

The original proposal was inspired by the NHS, a network of care boards across Scotland, all part of a new agency that could ensure high standards in care provision. The aim was to introduce the National Care Service by the end of the 2026 parliamentary term.

However, the plans had been repeatedly delayed and scaled back amid continued rows over how it would work and how much it could cost.

The original proposal, initially estimated to cost between £644m and £1.26bn over five years, was rumoured to have spiralled to £2bn.

In 2023, it was announced that the care board proposal had been scrapped, and councils and NHS boards would instead retain responsibility for staff and services in a “shared accountability” model.

The delivery date was also changed by three years, with a roll-out set for 2028-29.

Councils, Unison, and GMB Scotland withdrew support amid concerns that the scheme did not address pay and poor working conditions in the social care sector.