Members of an expert advisory group have rejected Scottish government claims of broad support for its changes to the National Care Service Bill.

Nine members of the expert legislative advisory group – set up to advise the government on Bill amendments – have written to MSPs to make clear that their involvement in the group should not be seen as an endorsement of the government’s proposed amendments.

Their letter sent to the parliament’s health and care committee comes in response to a number of updates and proposed amendments to the National Care Service Bill, shared with the committee by social care minister Maree Todd earlier this summer.

Part of the correspondence includes a report summarising the outputs of the expert group’s discussions, which the group of nine said could be misconstrued as them being in support of the draft proposals.

The letter from the nine members points to sections of the report which imply that specific proposals received ‘broad support’ or ‘support from a majority of members’ – despite, they say, being assured by the government that their participation would not be represented in this way.

The group say the design and way the group was run means the government would not have been able to infer their support – or lack thereof – for the proposals.

This is because no votes were taken among group members on any topic of discussion, accessibility barriers were faced by some members when trying to meaningfully participate, and time constraints restricted the ability of members to prepare feedback, according to the letter.

A Scottish government spokesperson said it is aware of the views expressed by the members:

“The expert legislative advisory group was a large and diverse group of stakeholders and we are grateful for the wide-ranging views expressed during those discussions.

“These have helped with the development of various Stage 2 amendments and will continue to inform future work on secondary legislation, guidance and best practice.”

Some expert group members – including the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), which co-signed the letter – have previously raised concerns over the amendment-writing process.

They told healthandcare.scot in June that the in-depth conversations they had hoped to have about the National Care Service Bill as members of the group did not happen, while the text of the draft amendments were not shared with them until after they were published.

Another member, think-tank Common Weal, followed this up by writing to the health and care committee to share its frustration with the way the government had portrayed the views of the group to MSPs.

While Common Weal’s letter said there was no support among expert group members for any of the government’s proposed amendments to the National Care Service Bill, the letter from the group of nine suggests this is not necessarily the case.

Their letter says the members are neither in support or opposition to the government’s amendments, and will each instead share their views with the committee through its consultation. 

COSLA ‘disappointed’ by care service update

Local authority organisation COSLA has also written to MSPs to clarify its position on the government’s National Care Service Bill amendments.

Council spokespeople for health and care, children and community wellbeing have told the committee that they ‘wish to correct an error’ in the minister’s correspondence and clarify that COSLA did not request more time to consider amendments related to Anne’s Law.

The long-promised Anne’s Law will strengthen the rights of people living in care homes to maintain their connections with family and loved ones.

Concerns were raised around the government’s decision to defer its full roll-out until the introduction of the National Care Service, despite the proposals receiving virtually unanimous support from the public.

COSLA says in its letter that it has "consistently expressed support for Anne’s Law" and continues to engage constructively with partners on its effective implementation.

The councillors also say they were "disappointed" to see an amendment for the inclusion of justice social work and children’s services – where these are already delegated locally – as they said the government had agreed not to do so.

COSLA says it believe these issues need more consideration, and it ‘regrets’ that a legislative approach has been introduced at this stage.

A Scottish government spokesperson said the government will “respond directly as soon as possible” to a letter sent by COSLA to the social care minister.

They said the government remains “committed to engaging fully with all stakeholders” as it seeks to implement Anne’s Law and establish a National Care Service.

 

Co-signatories of the expert advisory legislative group letter:

• Dr Jim Elder-Woodward OBE, Chair Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living and Co-Convenor Inclusion Scotland
• George WM Grindlay, Individual
• Gordon Johnston, Chair, Vox Scotland
• Isabella Goldie, Chief Executive, Deafblind Scotland
• People First (Scotland)
• Rachel Cackett, CEO, Coalition of Care Providers in Scotland (CCPS)
• Rob Gowans, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)
• Shared Care Scotland
• Tressa Burke, Chief Executive Officer, Glasgow Disability Alliance

 

Read more: New deadline for views on care service changes; Advisers kept in dark over care service plans; A timeline of Scotland’s National Care Service; New shape of National Care Service emerging

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