Hansard

I am conscious that, as we gather here this afternoon, certain events south of the border may have distracted some politicians and members of the public from activities in this chamber. I hope that that will in no way detract from the importance and significance of the bill and the consideration that it has been receiving and will continue to receive in the Parliament.

The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Bill is a promise and a commitment from the Executive to make care services in Scotland the best that they can be. At their simplest, the services are about people—Mrs Allen's comments about the need for us to value all people as individuals and recognise their needs were apposite.

We should remember that care services are used by around 500,000 people every day and that they are provided by more than 100,000 people. The services include: day care; care homes; home care; early education and child care; housing support; independent health care; and nurse agencies. We often talk of the quantity and availability of those services but it is crucial that we do not lose sight of the importance of getting the right quality and standard of service as well. That is what the bill is about.

The bill represents a huge step forward for users and providers. It will mean a better experience of care services for all who use them and a more confident, effective and valued social work profession and social services work force to deliver the services.

What do we mean by quality? What are the standards to which we aspire? At the absolute least, people want services that are safe, secure and reliable. They want care that they can trust. That matters to the users of services and to their carers and families. People want privacy, dignity, independence and choice. Users of services want to be able to enjoy a full range of relationships and they want the services to be tailored to their needs. They want to be empowered to live lives that are rich in purpose, meaning and personal fulfilment. They want services that are designed specifically to give them the best possible quality of life.

There are many excellent care services in Scotland, but we want all services to match the best. The current system of care regulation does not ensure the best possible services for those who need them and it does not guarantee independence or consistency. It lacks coverage and integration. Most important, it also lacks a user focus. We will all be aware of incidents that have shown that the system has not worked to protect users effectively.

Let us turn to what the bill does and how it will change the present situation. The bill establishes two new bodies. The Scottish commission for the regulation of care will regulate services and the Scottish social services council will regulate the work force. We are also introducing national care standards, which are being devised by a national committee that includes users, carers and professionals. The focus of that committee is entirely on the user: what the individual can expect from services; what the provider must do; and how the regulatory process can ensure that the outcomes of quality of life and quality of care have been met.

Under the bill, we will introduce a unified, consistent national system for regulating services, which will replace regulation by local authorities and health boards. We are creating a level playing field for providers, as local authority provision will be regulated for the first time. We are ensuring the regulation of all main care services, including, for the first time, care provided in people's homes. We are making the enforcement arrangements streamlined and effective for when things go wrong. We are ending the artificial and bureaucratic distinction between nursing homes and residential care homes. That means that an individual's changing care needs should be met where that individual is and that the increased care that is needed should come to them—we do not want frail and vulnerable people having to move to get appropriate care. We are also ending the increasingly artificial distinction between the regulation of early education and of child care.

For the work force, the bill introduces a regulatory body, the Scottish social services council, to raise the status and professionalism of social workers and social care staff. The new council will also ensure that education and training is of the highest quality and it will promote codes of conduct and practice.

The two new bodies will not in themselves deliver care services that are fit for the 21st century. That is a bigger, more demanding agenda, but one that, across the Executive's work, we are tackling with vigour. In order to have high-quality, 21st century care services, we must set the standards of care that we desire. We must develop a shared vision of what we want our care services to provide, with users, purchasers and providers all working together to a common goal. Without national, independent bodies to promote the highest standards of care and a work force equipped to deliver them, it will take a great deal longer to bring about the changes that we all want.

Much work has been done to get us to this point. In taking forward our proposals for the bill, we have received a great deal of support from those who use care services, from service providers and from a wide range of interested parties and professionals. That has been as a result both of our formal consultation papers and of the work of the reference group of experts that we established. We have made changes to our proposals as a result, and they are all the better for it. That is what effective consultation is all about.

To continue to help our thinking as we advance to stage 2, Malcolm Chisholm and Nicol Stephen are meeting key stakeholder groups. There will be six meetings about the bill; that consultation will run until the end of the month. We expect to publish about 20 more consultation papers this year, on various aspects of the new arrangements. There have been four editions of a newsletter that offers regular updates on progress; we are issuing more than 10,000 copies of each edition. The regulation of care website, which we launched in January, offers up-to-date news and information. It received more than 11,000 hits in its first month and more than 50 messages have been posted on the interactive web board.

That all serves to indicate the extent of the involvement, participation and interest that there has been in the development of the bill, which stands us in good stead not just for the development of effective legislation but, crucially, and when the time comes, for the delivery of high standards.