Scottish Councils Withdraw Support For The National Care Service - What Next?

29th September 2024

COSLA announced earlier today (27 September 2024) that council leaders had voted to withdraw support for the National Care Service.

The introduction of the service, which originally would have moved responsibility for commissioning social care from local authorities to a central body, had been delayed already until 2028-29 due to concerns with rising costs.

The centralising principle had already been watered down by the Scottish Government to cut costs, as outlined by the Social Care Minister in December in a letter to the Finance Committee

This vote could potentially put its introduction altogether at risk, after two unions - GMB and Unison - had already withdrawn their support earlier in the month.

This is also the latest conflagration of the difficult relationship between COSLA and the Scottish Government, and which has continued despite the Verity House Agreement. Such a transfer of power should happen with consent, and therefore if the Scottish Government is serious about implementing it, it will require addressing the concerns of local authorities.

Author
João Sousa
João is Deputy Director and Senior Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the Fraser of Allander Institute. Previously, he was a Senior Fiscal Analyst at the Office for Budget Responsibility, where he led on analysis of long-term sustainability of the UK's public finances and on the effect of economic developments and fiscal policy on the UK's medium-term outlook.