Scotland’s social care minister Maree Todd has admitted the significant challenges in reconciling the conflicting views of diverse partners in the development of the National Care Service.

Addressing the Scottish parliament’s health and social care committee this morning (Tuesday), Maree Todd said the sometimes “polar opposite views” of local authorities and disabled people’s organisations has proven especially challenging to resolve.

Leaders of disabled people’s organisations in Scotland have long argued that historical council failures in social care show the need for government oversight of the sector, which is at odds with local authorities' desire to retain their central role in governance and local delivery.

Ms Todd told MSPs there is a need to "strike a balance" between the two.

Despite the challenges, she said that COSLA and the government had been able to agree on the details of “90 to 95%” of the shared accountability agreement before the local authority organisation withdrew its support – a decision she says was taken before they had a chance to return to the negotiating table:

“On accountability being entirely the responsibility of local systems, democratically accountable to their local population with no national oversight, and then national oversight but no difference in local delivery – I think we have to find a balance in the middle.

“And I thought we had found that, that’s why I’m frustrated and disappointed with what’s occurred.

“I believe we should have come back around the table and worked on the remaining very small percentage of areas where we disagreed.”

Earlier this month, Ms Todd requested an indefinite pause to the Bill’s second round of scrutiny.

The move followed widespread unhappiness among key partners in the sector around proposed amendments to the Bill.

Some trade unions and the Scottish Green Party have also withdrawn their support for the Bill.

Since then, organisations led by and representing disabled people across Scotland and not-for-profit care providers have called for an end to ‘political wrangling’ around the Bill and for Scottish government to work with partners to move forward with social care reform without delay.

 

How will the Scottish government move forward?

Ms Todd today told the health and social care committee she has been “very dismayed” to see how the views of people with lived experience of accessing social care go unheard during discussions about the National Care Service amid the contributions of “very strong institutions involved in delivering social care”.

She and her officials also acknowledged that – despite trying to keep these voices front and centre during the more than three years of consultation and co-design – attempts to balance the needs of everyone in the sector has been “tricky”.

This was found by the key partners invited to become members of an executive legislative advisory group to help the government with amending the Bill over the summer, who soon raised concerns over a “deficient consultation process” that left them with far less say in the Bill’s development than they had anticipated.

John Paul Liddle, the government’s Deputy Director of National Care Service development and delivery, told MSPs the variety of conflicting views held by members meant it was never the intention to reach consensus, and, in any case, this would have been unrealistic.

Ms Todd explained:

“Given the complexity of social care and given the number of different stakeholders involved, it is very likely that no single stakeholder was likely would see their view reflected in the legislation.

“But each of them was heard and it [the Bill] was developed with their collaboration and we worked really hard to make sure we brought to life what people were telling us.”

A new stage 2 timetable for the National Care Service Bill is expected in the New Year.

The minister told the committee that she expects the delay to be short and that she will now look to build a network of allies across parliament to help progress social care reform.

See the full picture: The healthandcare.scot NCS timeline

Read more: Social workers warn of harm from care power row; Council exit frees seat at NCS table for care sector; Campaigners question Anne’s Law volte-face

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