Threat to SNP's care plan

Senior reporter

Friday 31 August 2012

THE latest flagship policy to overhaul the public sector is under threat as Scotland's Labour-run councils prepare to mount a revolt against billion pound plans to merge health care and social work.

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GERRY BRAIDEN

They will use today's meeting of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), to argue that plans to create 32 new bodies providing community care go too far, add unwanted bureaucracy and are "ill-advised and potentially dangerous".

Jim McCabe, leader of both North Lanarkshire Council and the majority Labour group on Cosla, will move to have any decision on the creation of Health and Social Care Partnerships delayed with a view to having the scheme halted.With merging of police forces and fire and rescue services already under way, the community care scheme is the latest plan for public sector reform. Both Scotland's main political parties championed mergers of parts of social work and primary health as a means of saving hundreds of millions of pounds and dealing with growing public demand in the run-up to the 2011 Holyrood elections. Although council leaders, including Mr McCabe, have also voiced support for closer working with health boards, they now argue the proposals out for consultation are part of an SNP grand plan to centralise all major local services.Glasgow City Council leader, Labour's Gordon Matheson, has described the plans as fundamentally flawed.Just yesterday, at Glasgow's key decision-making executive committee, the proposals were described as "showing a clear lack of understanding about how local government works". Integrated care pilots are already under way across Scotland – including NHS Highland and Highland Council which are working to deliver health and social care, with members of staff transferring from the NHS to the council and vice versa.The partnerships would be accountable to ministers, local authority leaders and health board chiefs – with the NHS and councils required to produce integrated budgets for adult health and social care services.Senior Labour figures in the west of Scotland have told The Herald that, while there is a degree of politicking and "cutting off our noses to spite our faces" in opposing the integration, there are genuine concerns about the plans.Scottish Government sources claim the councils fear losing control of massive budgets and will use today's Cosla meeting to whip up opposition.Last night, Mr McCabe said: "At very least the consultation period on this needs extended. Creating a new body serving four masters is a step very much in the wrong direction. It's also creating 32 highly paid chief executives with whole new entourages."These proposals are not just ill-advised but dangerous." Cosla president councillor David O'Neill said: "Our response to the Government's consultation on health and social care integration will go before today's meeting, therefore I cannot comment too much. What I can say is that Cosla is committed to the improvement of outcomes for older people and our response makes several suggestions where changes could be made to deliver this." A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Integration represents the radical reform that is badly needed to improve care for older people and to make better use of the resources that we commit to adult health and social care. It has almost unprecedented political consensus and has been endorsed by Cosla."

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Local government

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Threat to SNP's care plan

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