Meeting of the Parliament 10 June 2025
In 2021, following publication of the Feeley review, the Government made a clear commitment to reform Scotland’s social care system. Over the past four years, my predecessors and I have spoken to hundreds of people who use care services, to their families and to those who deliver care, and each of those conversations has left a profound and lasting impression. Today, we have an opportunity to reflect those voices in our decisions by passing legislation that will make a real and lasting difference.
The Conservatives and the Lib Dems—as we have heard today—have always opposed the creation of a national care service. From the very beginning, they were against it. The Labour Party claims to support a national care service—in fact, it was apparently Jackie Baillie’s idea, long before Feeley—but there has never been clarity on what that would look like.
Every member in the chamber knows that the status quo is not an option and that social care must improve. The Government is unwavering in our commitment to create a national care service that meets the needs of the people of Scotland.
I agree with Mark Ruskell that now is not the time to dampen our ambition. As I laid out in my opening speech, we will drive enhanced oversight and support of the care system, through the national care service advisory board, to provide a level of independent oversight that has been missing for too long. However, in order to unlock the full potential of the national care service, we must pass the vital changes that the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill will bring.