The Scottish Government has seemingly ditched plans for the National Care Service.
In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on Wednesday, Social Care Minister Maree Todd said the legislation would no longer be put to a vote this year.
With less than 18 months until the next Holyrood election, and much work still to be done on the Bill, that means there is little chance of it being passed by MSPs before the Parliamentary session ends.
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Ms Todd said the Scottish Government remained “committed” to plans for a National Care Service.
She added: “That work involves careful consideration of the views of this committee, stakeholders, members of the public and political parties.
“The Scottish Government wishes to take the time that is needed to fully reflect those views in our approach to Stage 2 of the Bill.
“For those reasons, the Scottish Government is not seeking to start Stage 2 consideration of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill on 26 November, and will work with the committee and Parliamentary Bureau to agree a revised timetable, for the New Year.”
The legislation would have seen the government set up “care boards” directly accountable to Scottish ministers.
They would have taken on functions and staff that are currently managed and run by local authorities and health boards.
There has been widespread criticism of the plan with MSPs, councils, unions, charities and carer’s groups all walking away.
The SNP's chances of getting the Bill through Holyrood were effectively killed off last month when the Greens withdrew their support.
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said this was a "deeply welcome move from the Scottish Government."
She added: "It is correct that they have, albeit belatedly, listened to the voices around the table who urged them to see sense.
“The Bill, as it stands, was deeply flawed and had lost the confidence of workers and other sector partners. It does nothing to address the key weaknesses within the current system – low pay, insecure conditions, chronic staff retention and a complete overdependence on highly financialised, profit-driven providers.
“We can wipe the slate clean. Whilst we await full confirmation the Bill is dead for the foreseeable, that doesn’t mean we can’t implement the reforms our social care needs for the here and now."
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Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "If this is the death knell of this centralising ministerial takeover of social care, I am glad. Scottish Liberal Democrats are the only party to have opposed it from day one.
“For four years, the SNP has wasted £30 million on a bureaucratic power grab that attracted clear opposition from every quarter. That money is the equivalent of the annual salary of 1,200 care workers.
"It is money that should have been spent on care staff and service users, on fixing community care so that people can leave hospital on time.”
More to follow...
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