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Councils to share accountability for
services
The Scottish Government has reached an initial agreement with
local government and the NHS about accountability arrangements
for the National Care Service (NCS).
The agreement aims to establish who will be responsible for
people’s care once the NCS is established. Overall legal
accountability will be shared with between Scottish Government,
the NHS and local government. Staff will continue to be employed
by local authorities, and councils will still be responsible for
assets like buildings and the delivery of services.
New governance arrangements will be introduced to ensure
consistently high levels of service across the country, while
building the flexibility to meet varying community needs at a
local level.
Social Care Minister said:
“The Scottish Government has been working closely with Local
Government to find a consensus on the National Care Service
(Scotland) Bill, which will allow us to deliver on the urgent
improvements needed to strengthen the delivery of integrated
health and social care for people.
“This partnership between the Scottish Government, Local
Government and the NHS helps establish where responsibility for
people’s care will sit under the National Care Service. The
detail of how this will work at a local level will be developed
in the coming months and we will continue to update parliament on
this work, along with the results of our ongoing co-design events
taking place across the country, after the summer recess.”
COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, Councillor Paul
Kelly, said:
“Further improving the experiences of people accessing and
working in social care and social work services must rest on an
effective partnership between Scottish Government and Local
Government. Combining shared national accountability with local
expertise ensures the right balance of further improvement across
Scotland, whilst rightly reflecting the diverse needs of local
communities.
“We know too that successful change is driven by the valuable
staff who deliver services. We hope by setting out the continued
role of local authorities in delivering social care and social
work functions, and staff remaining employed within councils, we
offer comfort and stability to the Local Government workforce.
“In recognising this important first step, we know there is still
more to do. As we progress forward, we are committed to
continuing to work closely with people in receipt of support and
partners to design a system that ensures individuals and
communities always experience high quality care and support.”
Background:
The consensus follows the Verity House agreement
on closer cooperation between Scottish Government and local
government signed last month
Discussions have also recently begun with the trade unions and
two of this summer’s NCS regional co-design events have taken
place, with seven in-person and five digital events still to run.
