Hansard

We often say that it is a privilege to do the job that we do. Even after almost 10 years of walking into this place, I am still a bit in awe of working here, and I remind myself every day of why I came here. I imagine that it is similar for most of us here, because we have a passion for our country and want to have the privilege of making a difference for the people we serve. There are many good people in this chamber, some of whom I agree with and some of whom I do not agree with. All elected members, of whatever persuasion, have my respect for sticking their heads above the parapet. Nonetheless, I believe that there are some who have allowed their political objectives to overtake the fundamentals of what we are meant to be doing here.

When we make laws, our overriding objective should be to make the very best law possible for our constituents and for the country, but this bill is a prime example of how not to do that. A bill that began as the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill has been hollowed out after years, and the Scottish Government has wasted millions of pounds on a fundamentally flawed plan. The husk of that bill has been reshaped as the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, a grab bag of random policies that have been sitting in the Scottish Government’s social care filing cabinet, gathering dust. Of course, the bill does contain policies that we support. Anne’s law is long overdue, as is unpaid carers having the right to breaks, but there are serious questions about why the SNP has waited until now to deliver on pledges that have been so desperately needed for so long.

Scotland’s social care system desperately needs reform—we all agree on that—but this bill is not going to deliver the level of reform that is needed to secure the future of social care in Scotland. A more accurate title for the bill would be the “Care Reform (Tinkering Around the Edges) (Scotland) Bill”. Far too many of its proposals fall into the category of, “We must do something about social care and I’ve found something, so let’s do that.” There does not seem to be a clear aim in mind. Many of the initial proposals were vague to the point of abstraction, and, as I have said, there does not appear to be any overriding objective for the changes.

We will support the bill today, not because we believe that it is the best solution available, and not even because we believe that all of its aspects will deliver progress, but because, within this disaster-strewn bill, there are a few ideas—including the carers’ right to breaks and Anne’s law—that have the potential to deliver meaningful change. The issue of digital patient records was also raised, although the minister and the Government do not seem to understand the phrase “agnostic technical interoperability” and therefore voted against that amendment.

Much still depends on the Scottish Government following through effectively on its commitments. As members know, I am one of life’s great optimists, but the minister called me cynical for daring to suggest that we measure the outcomes of the bill and that we should know the outline cost of it. The reality is, I believe, that most members are engaged in developing and amending the bill in an honest way to deliver the very best for Anne’s law and for carer respite. I find it quite disrespectful and disingenuous, therefore, to suggest that I was cynically trying to delay the implementation of the bill and the introduction of Anne’s law and provisions for carer respite. The cynicism lies at the feet of the minister and the Scottish Government. The Government has cynically—once again—delivered a bill whose outcomes and the cost of which it does not want to be measured against. To be frank, I think that it is cynical of the minister to make everyone wait for the legislation instead of bringing forward items via regulations. That is politics at its worst.

Social care is in crisis. Four years and £31 million later, the SNP is desperately trying to claim a victory. The members of the Scottish Government have forgotten why they are here. This place is not about trying to save political face; it is about delivering the very best for Scotland. Once again, the Scottish Government has fallen very far short of what could and should have been achieved.