National Care Service: questions and answers - engagement sessions

Additional Services

How will social work be included in the National Care Service?

• A National Social Work Agency (NSWA) will be established within the National Care Service. The NSWA's objectives are to support and invest in the social work profession by providing national leadership, and overseeing and supporting social work in the following areas:
  • Education (pre-and post-qualifying)
  • Improvement (by establishing a Centre of Excellence) and scaling up good practice
  • Workforce planning
  • Training and development
  • Social work terms and conditions (including pay)
• The National Care Service Bill's Policy Memorandum sets out the rationale for setting up a National Social Work Agency. The National Care Service Consultation analysis showed strong support for a National Social Work Agency.

What about social work complaints?

• The National Care Service complaints service will provide ease of access and consistency of complaints handling.
• We are aware of good practice in dealing with complaints in a number of areas and the important role of oversight bodies such as the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
• We will continue to work with these bodies to develop a service that builds on good practice already in place and we will develop a complaints policy through co-design with people with lived experience of accessing social care services, as well as relevant stakeholders.

How will children's services be included in the National Care Service?

• Before a decision is made on whether children's services should be included in the National Care Service it is vital we understand whether transferring children's services into the National Care Service will improve outcomes for children, young people and their families or whether needs are best met by children's services remaining outside the National Care Service.
• Research has been commissioned to inform the decision and ensure it is one which best meets the needs of children, young people and their families.
• If - based on the evidence gathered and other relevant considerations - ministers think that children's services should transfer into the National Care Service, a full public consultation will be held. The consultation will take place within a timescale that will ensure that children's services can be included from day one of the National Care Service, if the decision is to include children's services. We are not proposing that all services for children are included in the National Care Service. The children's services under consideration for inclusion in the National Care Service include children's social work and related social care services, including residential childcare provision; community health services for children; and CAMHS. Local authorities will retain responsibility for education-based services including schools, teaching staff and early learning and childcare.
• We do not want the creation of the National Care Service to hinder or stop any of the progress being made for children, young people and families. The Scottish Government has committed to Keep The Promise by 2030 and recognises all of the work being done by local authorities to continue to improve the outcomes of children and young people. Our partners in local government are committed to this and we welcome their commitment to continue this important work during the decision-making period. We will be engaging with key delivery partners throughout this process, which offers an opportunity to discuss and deal with any issues or concerns which arise.

How will Justice Social Work be included in the National Care Service?

• A decision has not been taken on whether justice social work services will be included in the National Care Service. The Bill includes an enabling power to allow for the transfer of justice social work into the National Care Service by secondary legislation if, following further work, the decision is to do so.
• We recognise that justice social work was not included in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, which is why we are in the process of establishing an evidence review and further programme of work to take place to ensure an informed decision is made on the potential inclusion of children's services in the National Care Service.

Justice social work is currently present within some Integration Joint Board's. What happens to those services when the Bill becomes law?

• Transition arrangements are still to be confirmed and will be subject to decisions on scope. For those areas where justice social work services are currently within Integration Joint Boards, however, it is clear that some change will be required regardless of whether or not those are transferred into the National Care Service and we are actively considering how any such changes will be managed effectively.

How will mental health be included in the National Care Service? How will the proposal of upcoming changes to mental health legislation be affected?

• Decisions on which services will be the responsibility of the National Care Service is still to be decided. We are keen to learn from the experience of the Integrated Joint Boards and the experience of the people and staff to inform decisions on this.
• Like the Scott Review into Mental Health Law, the National Care Service is committed to prioritising a human-rights based approach. We will engage with the range of findings presented by the Scott Review which was published in September, and will ensure how these interact with the work of the National Care Service, including dementia services, is accounted for in our response to the Review.

How will homelessness services fit into the National Care Service?

• It is not proposed that the housing or homelessness functions of local authorities should transfer to the National Care Service. However, the Scottish Government is very aware of the need for social care support to co-ordinate effectively with other services, and the National Care Service will work closely with local authorities to ensure this continues to be the case. In particular, we will ensure that people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness are able to access high quality social care support when they need it.