The Scottish Liberal Democrats are set to use their party conference to demand the Scottish Government abandons its plans for a national care service.

The proposals aim to overhaul the system in Scotland in an attempt to end the postcode lottery in social care.

However, the Bill has seen several delays due to concerns over the true cost of the project - estimated to be up to £2.2 billion - and what it means for local decision-making.

It passed its first stage in Holyrood in February but has faced significant opposition from local authorities and trade unions.

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The Bill’s introduction has been delayed until 2028-29, however Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said it should be scrapped completely with the funding instead invested into improving current services.

At the party’s conference in Hamilton this weekend, the Scottish Government will be urged to “immediately dismantle” the National Care Service Bill and give money earmarked to the overhaul directly to local authorities and social care partnerships.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “This white elephant takeover of social care would do nothing to tackle core problems and ease pressures. It would wrench away control of services from communities by putting it in the hands of Government ministers, undermining the delivery of care across Scotland.”

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He said care organisations, unions and local authorities “have all united to condemn the Bill”, adding the financial memorandum was in “disarray”.

He added: “This ministerial takeover needs scrapped, not salvaged – that must be one of John Swinney’s first acts as First Minister.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats stood up against this vast and unnecessary bureaucracy from day one. We will continue to do that because we know that if there is £1 billion to spend on a ministerial powergrab, it should be going to support frontline services and staff instead.”

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Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “The National Care Service is the most ambitious public sector reform since devolution.

“It is our opportunity to transform the way social care is delivered in Scotland.

“The National Care Service will ensure greater transparency in the delivery of care whilst strengthening the role of the workforce and providing enhanced support for unpaid carers.

“We are committed to establishing a National Board that delivers clear, consistent national care standards by the end of this parliamentary term.”

When Nicola Sturgeon launched the NCS plan in 2021, she said it was “arguably the most significant public service reform since the creation of the National Health Service” in 1948.

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The aim was to end the “postcode lottery” in community health and social care, by ensuring consistent and high standards and “embedding the principles of fair work for care workers”. 

The original NCS plan involved transferring council-run care services and assets to the NCS, with existing joint NHS and council integration authorities replaced by local care boards.

As care and social work makes up around a third of council budgets, local authorities and unions pushed back hard against the prospect of large-scale transfers.

But the Government later proposed to let councils retain responsibility for “all their current functions and the delivery of social work and social care services”, meaning there will be no transfer of staff or assets.

In addition, the plan to create new care boards has been ditched in favour of reforming the existing integration authorities.

Instead, there will be a National Care Service Board monitoring the sector and giving advice.

The NCS was forecast to cost between £644m and £1.26bn, depending on the extent of care services ministers ultimately chose to transfer.

But it was later put at £880m to £2.2bn, although the timeframe has been spread over a decade.

The “go live” date was due to be 2025/26, within the current parliament.

However that has now been pushed back to 2028/29, well into the parliament that runs from 2026 to 2031, when the SNP might not be in power and the NCS could be abandoned.

Most of Holyrood’s health committee gave their qualified backing to the principles of the bill in February this year, but warned that their support depends on ministers coming forward with far more details. 

In their report, produced after months of scrutiny, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee said that while they appreciated that this is a ‘framework bill’ - which means decisions on some of the finer details will be made later - the lack of information on how the NCS would operate was “concerning.”

MSPs said this had limited their ability to scrutinise the proposals effectively.

Ahead of the next parliamentary stage, they called on ministers to “explore the possibility of establishing an expert legislative advisory group for the bill to help guide the proposed co-design process".

The committee has also given “due notice” to the Scottish Government that it will require additional time to take further evidence on the content of any amendments to the bill.