The National Care Service (NCS) Bill has passed its first stage at Holyrood, with a minister saying an overhaul of the care system is needed as “the status quo is not an option”.
However, all opposition parties voted against the Bill, citing concerns about a lack of clarity on the exact functions of the NCS and its ultimate cost.
It comes after an earlier attempt by Labour to refer the Bill back to committee stage was voted down.
Many of the concerns are around the use of “co-design” to create the service, with the Government choosing to pass a framework Bill and fleshing out the detail of the NCS in secondary legislation.
The Bill has already seen several delays and changes to the original plans – with local authorities now retaining responsibility for social care staff and assets.
The regional care boards initially proposed will instead be a single national care board.
On Thursday, social care minister Maree Todd said more information would be provided “as soon as possible”.
As the Scottish Parliament debated the general principles of the Bill, Ms Todd said a recent review of the care system and extensive consultation had made an “overwhelming” case for change.
She said: “This Bill is our chance to effect the meaningful change that we all agree is needed.
“The National Care Service will provide greater transparency of the delivery of care, improve standards, support an improvement in pay and conditions for workers and provide better support for unpaid carers.”
She continued: “Many campaigners have been waiting a long time for this, but some don’t have a long time.
“And I know from listening to them that the status quo is not an option, that we cannot delete or change.”
Labour’s Pam Duncan-Glancy intervened in the minister’s speech, saying disabled people and users of social care had received promises of improvements for “decades”.
She asked the minister: “Without any detail of this in the Bill, how can the Government expect people to to believe them this time?”
Ms Todd said she agreed that people had waited “a great deal of time” but said “let me assure you and let me assure the public that this change is coming.
Under the latest plans, the “go live” date of the NCS has been pushed back to 2029, with the Bill also containing provisions to enhance breaks for carers and Anne’s Law – which will strengthen the rights of care home residents to see their loved ones.
Scottish Tory Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “There’s a dearth of detail and many unanswered questions.
“This Bill is far from ready for a Stage One vote.”
He said the Bill had already been delayed four times, going on to say: “Being asked to vote on this Bill, without knowing exactly what we are voting on, is like buying a car without knowing the make, model or colour.”
The NCS Bill passed stage one with 63 votes in favour, 51 against and one abstention.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel