Meeting of the Parliament 08 February 2023
Given that the committees of the Parliament, including the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, do not know what the bill means, how can people in the country know what the minister is actually proposing? His response is based on a survey in which the questions were, no doubt, drafted to give the answers that he wanted.
I do not want to be party political about this. Before the minister accuses me of that, let me consider some of the people on his side who are against the SNP’s plans: the SNP-led Aberdeen City Council administration; the SNP-led Dundee City Council administration; the SNP-led East Ayrshire Council administration; the SNP council groups in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire; Michelle Thomson MSP; and Kenneth Gibson MSP. Senior members of the SNP can see sense on that legislation, so why can these ministers not see it? Ms Thomson has admitted to having “no confidence whatsoever” in the financial planning behind the proposed legislation. Audit Scotland has concerns, too.
Only last week, the DPLR Committee warned that the legislation sets a “dangerous precedent” by allowing Scottish ministers to use delegated powers to introduce as-yet-unknown core provisions to social care. What the DPLR Committee sees is a power grab—an SNP power grab that removes parliamentary scrutiny of the biggest shake-up of the public sector in the history of devolution.