Rutherglen’s politicians are again at odds with one another, this time over the delay of legislation aimed at introducing a National Care Service.
Michael Shanks MP urged Clare Haughey MSP to insist that the Scottish Government “go back to the drawing board”, instead of backing the proposed legislation which has been delayed with no timescale for its return to the Scottish Parliament.
The National Care Service was proposed to reform social care in Scotland and create national accountability.
Since the Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in June 2022, £30 million has been spent on the legislation, with MSPs due to consider potential amendments later this month.
The Bill has faced criticism for taking powers away from local authorities, with COSLA and trade unions pulling their support.
It’s unclear if the Scottish Government would have enough MSPs to push the Bill through parliament, after the Scottish Greens withdrew support.
Shanks said: “Week in and week out, I’m hearing constituents struggling to get the care that they or their loved ones need. Urgent and transformative change of our social care system is desperately needed – and service users and carers should be at the heart of these decisions.
“What started off as a strong idea from Scottish Labour has been taken by the SNP and turned into a farce – chipping away at the Bill until it was no longer tenable, and trade unions and local authorities have been forced to walk away.
“Rutherglen’s MSP will know the same social care challenges I’m dealing with on behalf of constituents. Instead of backing a Bill that centralises power in Edinburgh and has lost the support of organisations, councils and care experts she should insist on her government going back to the drawing board”.
Haughey accused Labour politicians of “backbiting”.
She said: “In the Scottish Parliament, Labour politicians line up to criticise plans for a National Care Service whilst simultaneously demanding action – and then others like Mr Shanks wade in and demand the government ‘go back to the drawing board.’
“In England and Wales Labour are all for introducing a National Care Service, but in Scotland they are only steadfast in their opposition, backbiting and criticism.
“Mr Shanks would do well to take heed of who and what is at the heart of this drive for change – the people and their families who receive social care. There’s clearly a postcode lottery of people’s experiences of care across the country, and that must change.”
Rutherglen South ward Councillor Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on South Lanarkshire Council, accused the SNP of wasting £30 million of public money for what he labelled an “ill-conceived scheme” and “bureaucratic disaster area”.
He urged the Scottish Government to allocate the money that would have been spent on implementing the legislation to front line community care services such as care homes and home care, as well as better pay for care workers.
He said: “How SNP Ministers ever thought it was a good idea to centralise care services under expensive Regional Boards responsible to a distant government in Edinburgh is beyond my comprehension.
“Liberal Democrats opposed the expensive centralisation of care services from the start. We have been proved right but the four years’ delay and waste of time and money by the Scottish Government on this abortive project has been scandalous.”
Scotland’s Social Care Minister, Maree Todd, said: “Creating the National Care Service is about improving people’s lives and ensuring consistency of care across Scotland. We must address the concerns of the thousands of people who are telling us social care and community health needs to change.
“Last week the Disabled People’s Movement, a collective group of disabled people’s organisations, published an open letter calling for the establishment of a National Care Service and ‘fundamental reforms to the broken systems’.
“We have listened to people and are working to progress this as quickly and effectively as possible. We need to get this right, so we will seek to agree a revised timetable with the committee and Parliamentary Bureau for the New Year.
“The cost of delivering the National Care Service is set to be less than 1 per cent of the amount of money we will spend annually on social care over the 10-year period between 2022 and 2032, allowing us to more effectively allocate funding across the social care sector.”
*Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.