Hansard

I come to the chamber more in sorrow than in anger to move a motion to ask the Parliament to send the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill back to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for further evidence taking and consideration before stage 1. This is only the second time that such a motion has been brought before the chamber—such is the seriousness with which this action is taken.

Members will know that I first proposed a national care service over a decade ago. That was in response to Clostridioides difficile, which ripped through our hospitals and care homes and caused deaths as a result. People were transferred from hospitals to care homes without testing, care staff were without adequate personal protective equipment, standards were variable, and there was little oversight at the time. That sounds all too familiar.

Although Nicola Sturgeon said no to a national care service 10 years ago, the Scottish National Party has changed its mind. I welcome all converts, no matter how late in the day.

I have long believed in a national care service, so I do not take this step lightly. Let me set out why I think that the Parliament needs to send the bill back to the committee. At this point, I record my thanks to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, the Finance and Public Administration Committee, the Education, Children and Young People Committee and many other committees besides, and all the clerks for their diligent work on this piece of legislation. That work has not been easy. However, my beef is not with them; it is with the Scottish Government.

Members should read the report from the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. It contains page after page of criticism, requests for clarity, and areas that are identified as requiring substantial improvement. The Finance and Public Administration Committee looked at the bill twice, and it was still highly dubious about the budget.

However, the real problem arises with a backroom deal that was done with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. That deal changes the fundamental governance structures of the national care service. Some might agree that the deal is a welcome change, but there are many in the independent sector and the voluntary sector and many people with lived experience of care who do not think that it is right. However, whether people agree or disagree is not the point; the point is that the committee has been unable to scrutinise the bill, as the Scottish Government has been unwilling to share its amendments before stage 2. Despite polite requests from the committee, the minister kept saying no. Despite an SNP member of the committee asking to see the target operating model, which would have given us a clue about the direction of travel, the minister still said no.

The Parliament’s history has too many examples of pieces of legislation that lie on the statute books and are simply incapable of being enacted because they are such a mess. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 has not yet been enacted. Legislation has, sadly, been challenged in the courts because there was insufficient scrutiny of evidence.

Frankly, the national care service is too important to get wrong. The Government has already indicated that it will not be up and running until 2028-29, so there is time to take an extra few weeks to scrutinise the Government’s amendments, which will fundamentally change the governance arrangements. That should be properly considered at stage 1.

There is precedent. I will cite a recent example. The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee successfully argued that it should see amendments during stage 1 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. It got sight of amendments before stage 1 was completed.

Many members have noted in the past that stage 2 is, in any event, too short a process. Amendments are dealt with and dispatched at pace. If the changes have not been considered by the committee at stage 1, that makes for poor scrutiny and, ultimately, bad legislation.

The second issue is the lack of an expert bill advisory group. Every bill that I have ever worked on in the past has had an expert advisory group, because such groups help the Government to shape bills and ensure that they are capable of implementation.