The next First Minister must drop the doomed social care takeover

Speaking after the First Minister’s resignation, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called on the next First Minister to ditch plans for a ministerial takeover of social care, claiming that it is “doomed to fail” and urging Nicola Sturgeon’s successor to instead focus on the core problems facing staff and patients.  

Last week, the SNP and Greens voted down Scottish Liberal Democrat calls to scrap the plans for a ministerial takeover of social care, despite overwhelming evidence that the proposed legislation will not deal with the key challenges in the sector.  

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:   

“After abandoning their plans to break up the UK, the first thing Nicola Sturgeon’s successor must do is scrap the billion-pound bureaucratic takeover by ministers of the social care sector. This plan is doomed to fail.

"The government promised to eradicate delayed discharge eight years ago, but it is now worse than ever because they failed to tackle the shortages in social care.

“Like many Scots, Scottish Liberal Democrats have had enough of this conveyor belt of broken promises. The government must listen to COSLA, trade unions, health board bosses, its own backbenchers and numerous other organisations when they say its proposals won’t work.  

“Instead, we need the next First Minister to bring forward national standards and entitlements for users to enhance the quality of care and move quickly to reward staff with better pay, conditions and career progression. This would deliver fair work years ahead of the SNP and Green’s current schedule.”