Time to press destruct on the SNP’s billion-pound bureaucracy

Speaking ahead of the forthcoming Scottish Parliament vote on the Scottish Government’s social care plans, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has described the plans as "outrageously expensive and completely unworkable" and called for the government to put the money into boosting pay and conditions for frontline care staff and ensuring that conditions for service users improve.

New figures published this week showed that:

• 6,857 people were waiting on a social care assessment to enable them to live independently at home or in the community
• Just over 3,526 people had been assessed and were waiting for a care at home package.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“Scottish Liberal Democrats were the only party to oppose this legislation from the beginning because it does not tackle the core problems facing the social care sector. Instead it focuses on a vast bureaucratic overhaul at vast expense.

“Care organisations, unions and local authorities have united to condemn the legislation. Even SNP finance committee members have suggested that the sums don’t add up.

“It is no wonder the legislation was pushed back three times. All versions of this bill are proving outrageously expensive and completely unworkable.

“There is every chance that this overtakes the Ferguson ferries as the most expensive failure in the history of devolution.

“It’s time to press destruct on the SNP’s billion-pound bureaucracy and put the money into boosting pay and conditions for frontline care staff and ensuring that conditions for service users improve. That’s what social care services really need.”