The parliamentary committee leading scrutiny of the Bill to establish a National Care Service has agreed to back its general principles if certain conditions are met.

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee says its recommendation is contingent on it receiving a full list of proposed government amendments, an updated policy memorandum and explanatory note before the stage 1 debate in March.

Clare Haughey MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said a majority of the committee has welcomed the underlying intentions of the proposals:

“We welcome the Scottish government taking on board the views and concerns of stakeholders and its plan to revise the original proposals, but it is essential details of these revised proposals are shared with the Committee in a timely manner and sufficient time is allowed for the Committee to undertake substantial further scrutiny ahead of formal stage 2 proceedings.

“It is on this basis that that a majority of our committee has concluded that it recommends that the parliament should agree to the general principles of the Bill.”

Facilitating further scrutiny

Committee members say these documents will be critical to facilitate the ‘significant further scrutiny’ of the Bill at Stage 2 which they say is necessary before formal proceedings continue.

The committee is also asking for the role of parliament in the scrutiny of an operational National Care Service to be ‘reinforced’, and for government to commit to providing regular updates and assessments of whether the service is successfully improving outcomes.

Committee Convener Clare Haughey MSP added that changes to the original proposals for the National Care Service have affected scrutiny of the Bill across parliament:

“Our stage 1 scrutiny has undoubtedly been affected by changes to the original proposals, meaning we will have to reserve final judgement until we have had an opportunity to scrutinise the detail of those changes as part of a reinforced Stage 2 process.

“We’d like to thank all who have engaged with us during this process. Their insight and knowledge have been invaluable in helping us to consider and scrutinise the Scottish government’s proposals.”

The detailed 183-page Stage 1 report – the culmination of months of scrutiny – highlights a number of concerns with the proposals and process of the Bill.

An inability of the government to communicate and clearly outline a model for how the National Care Service will operate, as well as concerns around the co-design process dominate the report.

Much of the detail of the National Care Service is to be developed through a process of co-design, though the committee notes that the confidence of many stakeholders has been undermined following the consensus agreement with local authorities organisation COSLA.

While she dismissed the committee’s suggestion late last year to withdraw the NCS Bill and submit a new one, Scotland’s social care minister Maree Todd assured MSPs that the government is committed to continuing co-design and engagement work.

The committee now recommends the government set out a clear definition and parameters of co-design, as well as set up an expert legislative advisory group to help guide the co-design process.

It also wants to see how the government’s proposed amendments have been shaped by co-design.

Other key recommendations of the committee include the ‘urgent’ completion of a single electronic health and care record and the full implementation of Anne’s Law.

The health committee is the final parliamentary committee to publish its stage 1 report on the National Care Service.

A parliamentary debate on the proposals is due to take place in March.

Read more: A timeline of Scotland’s National Care Service; Economic benefits of NCS still unclear

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