The Care Reform (Scotland) Bill has passed

Tuesday’s approval, by MSPs, of the Scottish Government’s Care Reform (Scotland) Bill brings to a close a long-running chapter of proposals for reform of social care in Scotland.

We supported this legislation – including in its previous form as the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill – and, while we remain disappointed that many of the original proposals were not followed through, positive change should now come if it is implemented in full.

Independent advocacy is an essential component of genuine neuro-inclusion, and we are encouraged by a commitment in this new law around improving and widening access to advocacy. Given the systemic injustices experienced by neurodivergent people (including in social care) and the social-communicatory differences that form part of the neurodivergent lived experience, advocacy is an important tool in the empowerment of neurodivergent people and their families.

The Donaldson Trust is strongly supportive of a general right to independent advocacy for all neurodivergent people and their families, in all settings, delivered via the Scottish Government’s Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill.

We are encouraged, also, by steps the Care Reform legislation takes to ensure people are heard and involved in decisions about the care that they receive and empowering people to access information about this care.

Ensuring greater consistency, transparency, and accountability across social care settings in Scotland must remain on the Scottish Government’s agenda. We continue to believe that can only be delivered through the national oversight of social care.

We back calls from the ALLIANCE in this respect, as well as their demands that this progress be consolidated with a renewed focus on delivering Derek Feeley’s well-received recommendations in his 2021 ‘Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland’.