The SNP's plan for a National Care Service looks set to be dealt a fatal blow as the Scottish Greens are poised to withdraw their support for the plans.

Currently the Greens are the only opposition party which support the legislation needed to set up the organisation which aims to centralise adult social care and social work into a single body ultimately accountable to ministers.

The planned shake-up was first announced in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, but since then the proposed National Care Service has suffered delays and spiralling costs.

But the Greens' backing now sets to be reversed with an emergency motion opposing the service to be debated at the party's conference in Greenock this weekend.

If the Greens do withdraw support, as expected, it would be highly unlikely for the Scottish Government, which has no majority in Holyrood, to be able to get the required backing from MSPs to allow the National Care Service bill to pass in Holyrood. A final vote on the legislation is expected next year.

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Council body Cosla and the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) both withdrew their backing for the plans in recent weeks.

The emergency motion tabled for debate this Saturday by Councillor Anthony Carroll and backed by the Scottish Greens health spokeswoman Gillian Mackay calls for money intended for the new service to be re-directed to existing council social services.

It also calls for a "radically reduced bill which focuses on support for unpaid carers and enhanced rights" for care sector staff.

"After two years of negotiation and even before final consideration of stage two amendments, the SNP have lost confidence of major stakeholders. The bill is now contrary to Green values. This motion directs the party to respond accordingly," the motion states.

First Minister John Swinney intends to press on with the plans for a national care service.  (Image: PA) "Conference believes that Scottish Green MSPs have striven to to bring our manifesto's radical vision for structural reform to care, however conference recognises the Scottish Government's bill for a National Care Service does not deliver that. 

"Greens re-affirm our commitment to local accountability and delivery, and believes that the funding for re-structuring in the Scottish Government's plans could be better used to help deliver local social care services that have been under intense financial pressure."

It continues: "Green values cannot be achieved by the current untenable National Care Service Bill; that the parts of the bill worth salvaging can be progressed in a radically reduced bill which focuses on support for unpaid carers and enhanced rights for care sector workers that on balance in it's current form is now a net negative for the care sector.

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"Conference agrees that our MSPs should urgently work with relevant stakeholders including trade unions and local authorities who have raised concerns, and in some cases oppose the bill, about the NCS to radically reduce the bill's scope, instead making it one that focuses on increasing support and rights to those providing care, including unpaid carers. 

"If the re-scoping of the bill focusing on enhancing support and rights for those providing care is unable to achieve consent from key stakeholders and Parliament, and the bill is presented as it stands, then conference instructs Green MSPs to vote to oppose the National Care Service Bill."

Councillor Carroll told The Herald:  "As this bill stands it is clearly not fit for purpose and we cannot support it.

"There is real concern from councillors across the country that the National Care Service as proposed will take away local accountability of social care and leave that in the hands of Scottish ministers.

"Greens must be for the empowerment of local authorities who have local expertise and knowledge. Centralising power to the Scottish Government on social care and social work would see that lost.

"That is why I am bringing this motion to Scottish Green Party Conference, as we must gut out the power grab on local authorities & focus solely on enhancing rights & support for those providing care in this bill, or see it fall.”

Ms Mackay added:  "The proposed bill is far from what we want it to be and, its present form, we can't support it.

"We recognise that there are a lot of people, including trade unions and other stakeholders, who have serious concerns that urgently need to be addressed.

"There are definitely some positives within the bill that I hope MSPs from all parties would want to see enacted. For example Anne’s Law, which would give people living in care homes the right to see and spend time with loved ones, greater support for carers to take personalised respite breaks, and greater access to advocacy and information.

"We want to see how these good parts of this bill can be progressed without the unwanted centralisation that is being proposed. That's why I want to see the bill's scope radically reduced, making it one that focuses on increasing support and rights to those providing care, including unpaid carers. Without that fundamental change and shift in focus we cannot support the bill."

Scottish Green members will be able to table amendments to the motion to be debated on Saturday.

Speaking earlier this month John Swinney stood by plans for a national care service as the “most effective way” of improving care services across the country after the STUC withdrew its support.

The First Minister made clear the government was still seeking to “take forward the proposals”, despite the STUC withdrawing its support.

The STUC said the National Care Service Bill “fails to address fundamental issues about how social care is delivered and has lost the confidence of workers in the sector”.

Mr Swinney responded: “We’ve made it clear there is space for dialogue and agreement around the provisions in the National Care Service.”

Council leaders announced last month that they were no longer backing the proposals in their current form.

Speaking before Holyrood's health and social care committee, Paul Kelly, Cosla’s health spokesperson, said the body had been in “extensive” negotiations with the government for around 12 months.

“We are very concerned that what it looks like now is that centralisation, bureaucracy, additional layers of governance, that really isn’t what the system is looking for right now,” he said.

MSPs heard the disagreements stemmed from three main areas – the future of children’s services, the funding of integration joint boards and the ability for ministers to remove board members.

Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “The Independent Review of Adult Social Care, carried out by Derek Feeley, recommended that we establish a National Care Service underpinned by a human rights-based approach and giving a voice to people with lived experience at every level. 

"We’ve made it clear there is space for dialogue and agreement around the provisions in the Bill so that we can address the concerns of the thousands of people who are telling us social care and community health needs to change.

"The cost of delivering the National Care Service is set to be less than 1% of the amount of money we will spend annually on social care over the ten-year period between 2022 and 2032, allowing us to more effectively allocate funding across the social care sector.

“We already spend more than £5 billion a year on social care including implementing Fair Work measures. We will prioritise supporting the workforce through our plans to pay the Real Living Wage to the sector from April 2025 as set out in our Programme for Government.”