Charity hails new legislation on self-care packages

Age Scotland has welcomed the new legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament that allows people to choose who provides their social care and how it is delivered.

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The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Bill, which was passed last week, obliges local authorities to offer people needing community care the option of cash to arrange their own private care or to have it allocated to a provider of their choice as an alternative to council-run social care.

Community care services cover people who need assistance because of their age, because they are disabled or physically or mentally ill.

Age Scotland spokesman Callum Chomczuk said: "This legislation should help achieve the shift towards a person-centred social care that we view as vital if we are to escape from the ‘one size fits all' mind-set that very clearly has not worked.

"Self-directed Support puts user choice at the heart of the decision-making process and is an effective means of encouraging individuals to review the service they receive and consider whether and how it could be improved upon." 

The Bill was backed unanimously at Holyrood, although concerns were raised about its apparent limited ability to protect less-severely disabled people from unsuitable carers, and the potential for councils to charge carers for services such as training and respite cover.

Public Health Minister Michael Matheson rejected calls for the insertion of safeguards to protect people from the "undue influence" of inappropriate individuals. He said he intends to address these concerns in statutory guidance but that inserting tougher restrictions into the Bill would limit people's choice.

Mr Matheson said: "The provision in this Bill is to enable and encourage local authorities to maximise individual's capability to understand, make decisions and to communicate decisions. They are to identify persons who, with the agreement of the supported person, can assist.

"The challenge in this respect is to define and articulate in statutory guidance appropriate and inappropriate forms of assistance."