Scottish Government's 'botched' National Care Service plans mothballed after £28m spent

Nearly £30 million has already been spent on the sweeping proposals for the service, which envisaged centralising adult care and social work – delivered by local authorities – into a single body ultimately accountable to ministers. The initiative represented one of the most ambitious public service reforms of the SNP’s 17 years in power, and formed a key policy of Nicola Sturgeon’s administration.

However, amid spiralling costs and and deepening concerns around governance, the NCS scheme has proved hugely controversial. Despite being backed by Ms Sturgeon’s successors in Bute House, local authorities and trade unions recently withdrew their support, further impeding the service’s progress.

SNP ministers are considering dropping the first part of the Bill, which would form the new centralised service, and instead simply push ahead with reforms to care home visits and inspections. Social care minister Maree Todd has written to the Scottish Parliament’s health committee to confirm work on this will delayed until the new year.

GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour said the botched blueprint had been a wasted opportunity, and suggested the money used on planning the NCS would have been better spent on a pay rise for workers.

“Fairly rewarding the skills, experience and commitment of workers delivering frontline care would have ended the crisis in recruitment and retention that is sabotaging the service,” she said.

“A huge amount of time, money and goodwill has been frittered away on plans for a National Care Service that failed to properly address that fundamental issue.”

The plans for the NCS were first announced by Ms Sturgeon in 2021 at a time when Scotland was still in recovery from Covid-19. Billed as a “fitting legacy” from the trauma of the pandemic, and the “most significant public service reform” since the establishment of the NHS, it had been envisaged the new service would have been fully up and running by 2026.

However, ministers announced last year the timescale was being pushed back three years in an attempt to avoid costs rising to an estimated £2.2 billion. The latest available figures, released by the Government under Freedom of Information legislation, show work on the NCS had cost £28.7m as of September, with nearly 130 civil servants dedicated to the project. Nearly £2m has been spent on consultants.

Asked if the Government would drop the first part of the Bill, First Minister John Swinney said: "We're exploring all of these points." Pushed again, he added: "We're considering all ways forward on the National Care Service."

However, he insisted he would not ignore existing concerns about the variation in care around Scotland. "I'm not going to ignore those concerns around the country and I'm going to make sure that we find a way of addressing those concerns," he said.

Speaking earlier at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Swinney reiterated his administration’s backing for the NCS. He said the Government would “take its time to ensure that we get the proposals right and bring forward proposals that can command parliamentary support”.

But Russell Findlay, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said his party had been warning for years the NCS was a “mess”, and stressed the plans “should not just be delayed”, but “binned” altogether, as he urged Mr Swinney to put the money for the service into frontline care.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described the plans as “botched” and opposed by care users, unions and experts. He asked Mr Swinney to apologise to those who had lost out on care support and were having care packages withdrawn.

But Mr Swinney said care users were not opposed to the NCS, and some had “pleaded” with the Government to introduce the service. He went on: “I accept that there is a lot of opposition to the NCS from a variety of institutional stakeholders and I recognise the issues within Parliament.”

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dems leader, said: “If this is the death knell of this centralising ministerial takeover of social care, I am glad. Scottish Liberal Democrats are the only party to have opposed it from day one.

“For four years, the SNP has wasted £30m on a bureaucratic power grab that attracted clear opposition from every quarter. That money is the equivalent of the annual salary of 1,200 care workers. It is money that should have been spent on care staff and service users, on fixing community care, so that people can leave hospital on time.”

In her letter to the Holyrood health committee, Ms Todd said the Government remained “committed” to a NCS and work continued to progress this “as quickly and effectively as possible”. She said: “That work involves careful consideration of the views of this committee, stakeholders, members of the public and political parties. The Scottish Government wishes to take the time that is needed to fully reflect those views in our approach to stage two of the Bill.

“For those reasons the Scottish Government is not seeking to start stage two consideration of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill on November 26, and will work with the committee and Parliamentary Bureau to agree a revised timetable, for the new year.”

Last month, the Scottish Greens voted overwhelmingly to pull their support for the NCS, effectively killing off the prospect of the legislation garnering sufficient support at Holyrood. A motion passed at the party’s conference deemed the Bill “not fit for purpose”, and warned the service would “take away local accountability of social care and leave that in the hands of Scottish ministers”.

Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats have all opposed the NCS plans.

Paul Kelly, health and social care spokesman for council umbrella body Cosla, said while there was “no doubt” the care system required “urgent reform”, he was pleased the Government had “finally listened” to concerns about the Bill.

Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trade Unions Congress, said the Government’s announcement marked a “victory for workers”.

She said: “The Bill, as it stands, was deeply flawed and had lost the confidence of workers and other sector partners. It does nothing to address the key weaknesses within the current system - low pay, insecure conditions, chronic staff retention and a complete overdependence on highly financialised, profit-driven providers.”