The Scottish Government has announced an initial agreement with local government and the NHS about accountability arrangements for the National Care Service (NCS).
The agreement sets out who will be responsible for people’s care once the NCS is established, with overall legal accountability to be shared between Scottish Government, the NHS and local government.
Staff will still be employed by local authorities and councils will have responsibility for assets like buildings and the delivery of services.
New governance arrangements will also be introduced to ensure good service across the country, while at the same time building the flexibility to meet varying community needs at a local level.
Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “The Scottish Government has been working closely with Local Government to find a consensus on the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, which will allow us to deliver on the urgent improvements needed to strengthen the delivery of integrated health and social care for people.
“This partnership between the Scottish Government, Local Government and the NHS helps establish where responsibility for people’s care will sit under the National Care Service. The detail of how this will work at a local level will be developed in the coming months and we will continue to update parliament on this work, along with the results of our ongoing co-design events taking place across the country, after the summer recess.”