Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)

Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Question reference: S6W-44036

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether free personal and nursing care under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 must be implemented promptly once eligibility is confirmed, or whether local authorities may lawfully delay implementation due to resource constraints.

Free personal and nursing care is underpinned by the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, which places a duty on local authorities to secure the provision of personal and nursing care, without charge, for individuals who are assessed as eligible. Once eligibility has been confirmed, local authorities must put arrangements in place as soon as reasonably practicable. Operational factors such as care planning and provider availability can affect timescales, but financial pressures or resource constraints do not remove or suspend the underlying statutory duty. The entitlement is not discretionary and applies equally to those who are self-funding their accommodation costs in care homes.

Decisions on eligibility are made by local authorities in line with the guidance set out in the National Eligibility Criteria Framework for Adult Social Care as agreed by the Scottish Government and CoSLA in 2009. The guidance provides a mechanism for managing demand for social care based on the principle that local authorities will manage their resources to focus first on supporting those people who are most in urgent need. It outlines that eligibility criteria should be based on risk and urgency of the need for support and sets out four risk categories against which people’s needs should be considered (low, moderate, substantial and critical).

Local authorities are democratically accountable for the discharge of their statutory responsibilities. Compliance is supported and overseen through statutory guidance, financial and performance reporting, scrutiny by the Care Inspectorate, and established complaints and redress mechanisms, including the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The Scottish Government continues to engage closely with CoSLA to understand system pressures and to support implementation which reflects both the statutory framework and the founding principles of free personal and nursing care.

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Filter your results Hide all filters

Question reference: S6W-44036

Answer