Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 (Consequential and Saving Provisions) Order 2014 [Draft]
We come to agenda item 2, which is consideration of an affirmative instrument. As is usual with affirmative instruments, we will have an evidence-taking session with the minister and his officials. Once we have had all our questions answered we will have the formal debate on the motion.
Good morning. The order makes minor amendments to primary and secondary legislation, all of which are in consequence of changes made by the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013, which is set to come into force in April this year.
Thank you. Are there any questions from the committee?
I notice that there was no consultation on the order. I understand that that is because the issues that the order is concerned with were consulted on quite widely in relation to the 2013 act.
The order does not deal with that issue, which would be a matter for the regulations that were laid before the Parliament in January.
Do those regulations allow people to pool their resources?
Yes. The order repeals references to direct payments and replaces them with the terms that are set out in the 2013 act.
If my reading of the notes is correct, the order allows people to use local government services as well as to organise their own care.
That relates to provisions in the 2013 act and the regulations under it. The order largely repeals terms in other legislation that refer to older provisions.
Is Rhoda Grant referring to the policy note that accompanied the order?
Yes. I understand from the note that the order repeals one option and replaces it with four options. Am I right?
Under the present regulations, someone can use a direct payment to purchase care. The 2013 act provides for four options, including direct payments. The act added to the options; it did not remove anything.
I understand that. I come back to the question whether, if the order had been consulted on, we could have added more options and not had just four. Are you saying that those four options were predetermined in the primary legislation?
The order does not deal with the four options; the 2013 act set them out.
If there is a bit of dubiety and confusion, perhaps Rhoda Grant can take time to relate her points to the policy note. Her point is about wider consultation and the four options.
The order deals only with technical changes to terms in legislation; it does not deal with the four options that Rhoda Grant referred to. The 2013 act, on which there was extensive consultation, dealt with those options.
It is okay; there are no wrong questions here. If Rhoda Grant needed a bit of clarity, that is fine.
The position was not clear from the note.
That is fine. As members have no other questions, we will move to item 3, which is the formal debate on the affirmative Scottish statutory instrument that we have just taken evidence on. I remind members that they should not put questions to the minister under this item, as it is a formal debate, and that officials may not speak.
I thank the minister and his officials for their attendance.
National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/38)
Item 4 is consideration of two negative Scottish statutory instruments. No motion to annul SSI 2014/38 has been lodged and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee made no comments on the regulations. Does anybody wish to comment?
The committee may wish to consider the effects of the changes in pension contributions on the early retirement of consultants, and the consequential effects on the health service as a whole. I hear that substantial numbers of consultants are now retiring, both because of the increased contributions as set out in the regulations before us and because of the cap on the pension level—the lifetime allowance—which has been introduced by the UK Government. Those two factors are having an effect on some of the most experienced, senior consultants, who are choosing to retire early. However, those points do not affect the SSI.
You are echoing some of the comments that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing made at our briefing earlier with regard to other unforeseen impacts on out-of-hours care. We could bear the issue in mind.
HIV Testing Kits and Services Revocation (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/42)
We move on to the second instrument before us under item 4. No motion to annul the regulations has been lodged and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee made no comments on the regulations.
That concludes the public part of the meeting. As was agreed earlier, the committee will now go into private session.