SNP Government scraps National Care Service plan after councils and trade unions withdraw support

The SNP Government has finally ditched its plan for a national care service after a humiliating u-turn for John Swinney. Ministers will not push ahead with the controversial proposals on November 26th and have not proposed a new timescale. The Government’s NCS proposal involves a huge shake up of the sector in a bid to drive up standards and wages.

But the plan, which involves creating a new national care board , has been seen as a power grab from councils and NHS boards. Local authorities and trade unions have walked away and the Government does not appear to have the votes at Holyrood to push the legislation through. The Bill was supposed to start its next stage later this month, but Social Care Minister Maree Todd has pulled the plug.



In a letter to a Holyrood committee, she said the Government would “reflect” on opposition to the plan. She said “for those reasons” she would work on a “revised” timetable but provided no details. A Holyrood source said the Government would dump the critical part of the Bill that creates new care boards, effectively gutting the NCS .

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