MSPs vote to introduce scaled-back social care reforms

MSPs have unanimously passed legislation which will allow people in care homes to receive visits from a named loved one even in restricted measures.

The Care Reform (Scotland) Bill will also introduce changes to social care procurement and a new right to breaks for unpaid carers.

The legislation was backed by 116 votes to none.

Plans to introduce a national care service, which were initially part of the bill, were dropped in January after unions withdrew support and a number of health boards and care organisations expressed concerns.

One of the big changes planned under the new law is a legal right to breaks for unpaid carers.

This mean councils will have a duty to decide whether a carer is able to take sufficient breaks from their caring role.

If they are not, then the local authority will provide support to enable this, such as providing funding for short respite breaks.

This policy, given Scotland has around 700,000 unpaid carers, will cost between £196m and £315m by 2035/36, according to the Bill's financial memorandum.

However, it remains a fraction of the £13.9bn that unpaid care is currently saving Scotland every year.

Improvements to the way information is shared in health and social care - to make it less likely that people will have to repeat their information - as well changes to procurement rules in the sector are also planned.

Beefing up the powers that watchdogs can take against failing care providers is also part of the bill.

The most high-profile part of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill is Anne's Law, which allows people in care homes to receive visits from a named loved one even in restricted measures.

It is named after Anne Duke, who died aged 63 in November 2021 after being cut off from her family while battling early-onset dementia during the Covid pandemic.

The original proposal for a National Care Service, inspired by the NHS, was to take social care provision and staff away from local authorities into a new national agency.

That was then dropped in favour of creating a national care board to supervise service delivery and improve consistency - but this failed to win over a growing number of critics.

Council body Cosla and trade unions then withdrew their support for the project, while a number of health boards and care organisations also expressed concerns.

The plan, which was also subject to a series of delays, was eventually scrapped in January after £30m was spent on the process.

Social Care Minister Maree Todd said at the time she was "still committed to the ambitions of the National Care Service" but added the SNP no longer had the support it needed in parliament to pass its original plans into law.