Hansard

Social care is in crisis right now. Care packages for some of our most vulnerable people are being cut, almost 10,000 people are stuck waiting to receive assessments and care, and providers are handing back contracts because they cannot afford to deliver. Staff morale is at rock bottom, with people leaving the profession in droves.

Nothing in the bill addresses that immediate crisis. Instead, we have a framework bill with little detail that was introduced 20 months ago. Despite the minister’s warm words, implementation will not happen until 2028-29, at a projected cost of £2.2 billion. Not one penny will go towards care packages right now, and there will be nothing either for hard-pressed social care staff.

The bill should have been about raising standards and quality of care; removing care charges; standardising eligibility criteria; encouraging independent living; valuing the workforce with consistent terms and conditions, collective bargaining and pay; and bringing about cultural change not just structural change. It is a framework bill with little detail that has frustrated stakeholders and Parliament. It has been described by many as a bill without vision, a bill that simply does not address the challenges now and a bill without ambition.

The bill, as introduced, has been considered by numerous committees—the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee; the Education, Children and Young People Committee; the Finance and Public Administration Committee; the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee; the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee; and more besides. Concerns have been expressed by the overwhelming majority of them. Indeed, the Finance and Public Administration Committee has looked at the bill twice and still does not believe that the sums add up. It is not alone—the voluntary sector, the independent sector, carers, those experiencing care, and trade unions all have concerns. The committee report runs to more pages than there are sections of the bill, and page after page is filled with criticism.

I will not rehearse the arguments made yesterday about further scrutiny, but it is really simple. The bill, as introduced, is about to change beyond recognition because of a deal done with COSLA. It has simply not been scrutinised. The SNP and Greens do not care about the integrity of this Parliament; they want to ride roughshod over the legislative process, and just railroad the bill through. It is a mess, and this is a recipe for bad legislation.

I will consider a few of the provisions that we do support: Anne’s law and the right to respite breaks. We support Anne’s law 100 per cent. The right of relatives to see their loved ones in care homes must be legislated for. We cannot repeat the heartbreaking experience of too many families during Covid. The current provisions in the bill are weak, but there is a strong argument to decouple them from the bill. I invite the minister to consider amending the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011. That would be a much faster legislative vehicle, which would undoubtedly carry the unanimous support of the Parliament.

We also support the right to respite breaks 100 per cent. Again, there are other legislative opportunities that can be explored, but the truth is that that element will take resources. The financial memorandum estimates that the amount of additional money required for 2025 is £5 million, rising to £133 million in 2035—and that is for just 10 per cent of carers. It is fantasy budgeting. Like so much of what the SNP does, this legislation might be passed but it will not be enacted, and carers will be let down in the process.

Social care staff are the backbone of the delivery of quality social care, yet they are leaving their jobs—they are going to work in Lidl or Asda because they pay more. We first proposed £12 per hour in early 2021, rising to £15 by the end of the parliamentary session. Had the Government done so then, the hourly rate now would be worth £14.43, and we would not have the haemorrhage of social care staff.

It is, regrettably, always the same with this SNP Government. It talks a good game, but it fails to deliver. Where are the fair work principles in the bill, including the improved terms and conditions, the right to full sick pay from day 1 and the opportunity for sectoral bargaining? They are simply not there.

Today, the Daily Record outlined the pressure that social care workers are under. A recent GMB survey of front-line care workers in Glasgow shows that 80 per cent of social care staff believe that workloads are now unmanageable, and 89 per cent are warning that vulnerable service users are now at risk. One carer said:

“We are rushing from one visit to another, always chasing our tail, never being allowed to give enough time to people ... I used to absolutely love my job but am terrified someone is going to be so rushed they make a terrible mistake. I just want to get out before it’s me.”

The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill will do nothing to address those problems. It will do nothing for those whose care packages are being cut now, nothing to help a sector that is on its knees and nothing to stem the flood of staff who are leaving.

It was Scottish Labour that proposed a national care service more than a decade ago, but the SNP said no. The bill as it stands does not implement the Feeley review. It will not work as it stands. We will continue to engage constructively at stage 2, but the process must be lengthened to allow for proper scrutiny. There is no room for arrogance or hubris in something this important, and I fear that, instead of listening to the many reasonable suggestions from stakeholders, the Government is now hard of hearing.

Please do not ignore the warnings from those with care experience. Do not ignore them from social care staff. Do not ignore them from social workers or the sector as a whole. This bill must not be an excuse for the SNP not to act now to avert a crisis in social care. Stop the cuts to care, boost pay in the sector and deliver Anne’s law and a right to breaks, so that those things can deliver for those who work, live and care in our social care system.

Finally, we reluctantly cannot support the general principles of the bill. The committee has not scrutinised the substantial changes that are being made, but we will continue to engage constructively at stage 2.