Amid the seismic events abroad, it should be borne in mind that many Scots are greatly concerned with the bread and butter issues of everyday life here, especially health and social care.

Earlier this week we reported on recent figures from Public Health Scotland which show that there are more than 5,000 Scots waiting for a social care assessment and the number of people waiting for an NHS care package at home has increased.

👉 Read our report here

Today one of our readers suggests a way to ease the problem, and calls for the Chancellor to tweak her inheritance tax proposals to encourage more people to go private.


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Jon Cossar of Edinburgh writes:

"In the context of your headline “Almost 6,000 Scots waiting for social care assessments” (The Herald, November 4), and the proposed introduction of 40 per cent inheritance on private pension plans, it might make this tax charge more palatable if tax exemption was applicable to certain, defined withdrawals from such plans: for example, provided withdrawals were being deployed to fund private social care needs/packages, thus alleviating numbers on waiting lists as well as helping to accelerate the necessary care to all in need.

"Currently, all withdrawals are liable for income tax at the highest marginal rate."