Tories claim National Care Service is a ‘dead duck’ after Holyrood vote delayed

Scotland’s planned new National Care Service (NCS) has been branded a “dead duck” after Holyrood ministers delayed a key debate and vote on the plans.

The Scottish Government said it was extending the deadline for the current stage of consideration of the National Care Service Bill, as not all the committees who have been examining the legislation have finalised reports on it.

But the BBC reported the key debate and vote on the legislation had been pushed back until June – meaning it will not now take place until after the SNP leadership contest has concluded.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes – one of the three candidates running to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scottish first minister – has already said she would “look again” at the plans, although she insisted later she was “hugely supportive” of the policy.

The proposed NCS was developed by the Scottish Government in the wake of the Covid pandemic, but the plans been criticised by trade unions, local government and opposition politicians at Holyrood.

Tory MSP Craig Hoy challenged social care minister Kevin Stewart on the delay in Holyrood, saying the debate on the Bill was being “paused until after the SNP leadership election”.

Mr Hoy, the Conservative social care spokesman, told the minister: “If that is the case, isn’t it the case that his care service is a dead duck.”

With seven Holyrood committees scrutinising aspects of the legislation, a Scottish Government spokesperson said it would be “inappropriate for us to proceed with the Stage 1 debate before being able to fully consider the recommendations of all of the committees who have taken evidence the Bill”.

The spokesperson continued: “We do not yet have reports and recommendations from all of the committees as they are, appropriately, taking the necessary time to properly reflect on this complex matter.

“An extension to the Stage 1 deadline will allow both the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government the necessary time to consider all of the evidence to best inform the development of the Bill.”

The spokesperson stressed that this delay “does not affect our committed to deliver the National Care Service legislation within the lifetime of this Parliament”.

But Mr Hoy insisted: “Kicking the National Care Service into the long grass simply is not good enough.

“The costly and reckless plans to centralise care services across Scotland should be scrapped completely.

“Rather than merely delaying it, this should be the moment when the penny finally drops for the SNP to abandon these plans. ”

He added: “The SNP Government have only made this partial retreat because of their leadership election timetable. That is no way to develop policy.”

Labour social care spokesperson Paul O’Kane said: “After wasting months defending these unworkable plans, it seems the SNP are finally willing to U-turn.

“Social care in Scotland is crying out for support, but no-one thinks these botched plans are the solution.

“It’s no wonder every single SNP leadership candidate has a different opinion on this shambles.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said halting the Bill was “essential”, adding: “Next it needs to be scrapped, not salvaged.”

He insisted: “A ministerial takeover and billion-pound bureaucracy would fail to solve the core problems in social care. The money must be moved instead to frontline services and staff who are firefighting on every shift.”