Hansard

I thank everyone who has been involved with the bill over the past four and a half months. That includes a great many people. Within the Parliament, I thank all four committees that were involved with the bill at stage 1. I thank in particular the Health and Community Care Committee, which did so much work on the bill at each stage, providing excellent questions and stimulating debate and detailed scrutiny of the draft legislation. I thank the clerks to the committee and the other parliamentary officers who helped with the bill. I thank the members of the bill team who worked long and hard to make it a success. At times I marvel at how they, and committee staff, manage to meet almost impossible deadlines. I also thank the large number of members of the public, voluntary groups and other organisations who have made an important input by participating in the consultations on the bill's provisions and in the parliamentary process.

However, it is clear from the letters that I am receiving that not everyone fully understands who will benefit and what the effects of the bill will be. Many people already receive free personal care; the bill extends that entitlement. We are preparing an information campaign to ensure that older people, their families and carers are informed of what the policy will deliver. As members have indicated, the bill has received widespread support. It is a major step forward in improving care in Scotland.

Shona Robison and Janis Hughes mentioned carers. My colleague Mary Mulligan has already apologised for the late lodging of certain amendments. In the spirit of consensus, I should point out that the blame for that lies fully with Janis Hughes. Her dogged determination to protect carers' interests and to ensure that carers are not fobbed off led to detailed negotiations and discussions and subsequently to the late amendments, which are purely and simply meant to protect the position of carers in Scotland. I pay tribute to Janis for her work.

Mary Scanlon raised a number of detailed points and questions that unfortunately cannot be answered in this stage 3 debate—I think that she was making up for all the weeks when she did not have a voice. Nevertheless, some of her concerns will be addressed in the coming months and I am sure that members of the Health and Community Care Committee will raise them again as they continue to scrutinise the development of free personal care provision.

Several members mentioned joint working. The issue was well discussed at stage 2 in the committee. Joint working is absolutely necessary. Although I hope that such working will develop on the basis of co-operation, we have ensured that, where joint working is not effective, we can implement further measures.

Ben Wallace mentioned the fact that he had met the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries. It has been suggested that actuaries are people who think that accountancy is too exciting; in that case, meeting Ben Wallace must have been an orgasmic experience for them. I also listened with interest to John McAllion's definition of hyena socialism, which would probably take some of our debates on to a more voracious level.

In response to members' questions, I can say that there will be no further delays. We are fully committed to meeting the bill's objectives; the money is in place and we look forward to working towards the bill's implementation. I regret Nicola Sturgeon's slightly negative contribution. She turned the Parliament's moment of pride over such a major achievement into another opportunity to criticise and to have a whine about Westminster.

Although the bill represents a substantial piece of work, a great deal more still has to be done after today's debate. I stress the importance of the on-going implementation work and the regulations that will follow in the bill's wake. I am sure that the Health and Community Care Committee is looking forward to giving both its careful scrutiny.

As Henry McLeish and other members have pointed out, we should recognise the achievement that the bill represents and the improvements in care that we will be able to deliver as a result of it. The bill is part of the biggest package of support to older people that the country has ever seen. With the introduction of free personal care and other aspects of care delivery, alongside measures such as concessionary travel across Scotland and central heating programmes, the Parliament is simply repaying the sacrifice that our parents' generation made in the creation of a welfare state. Although, as John McAllion suggests, people of our generation might be selfish in how they prepare for their old age, I am proud that we have done something to repay our huge debt to our parents' generation.

I thank everyone for their support and their efforts over the past couple of months, and I ask the chamber to join me in voting for the bill to be passed.