Chamber and committees

Early intervention and prevention are always better than trying to deal with the consequences of poverty or homelessness further down the line. You will see early intervention and prevention built into all our policies, but we need to get better at that. We have been saying for a long time that investing upstream is the best way to invest in order to prevent problems from emerging, but it is quite hard to do that and transform services while trying to keep those services running.

One of the key recommendations of the Christie commission was to invest upstream in prevention and early intervention. We need to work out ways of making that easier. We are currently in discussions with COSLA and local government on how we can help services to make that transition. That is easy to say but harder to do.

We are looking to continue funding the Hunter Foundation and its exciting work on transformation. The foundation brings funding to the table, too, which is always welcome. We have been partnering with and providing funding to the foundation. The work is to oil the wheels of change—to help to get from A to B and make that service change. You cannot do that overnight; you have to invest in that bridging to transform a service.

I am keen to see more of that. To tackle child poverty, we absolutely need to tackle its causes. Some of that is systemic. There is not a single solution; we need to tackle it all. Early intervention and prevention are key. Where possible, we need to push the spend in that direction. However, as I said, that is easy to say but a lot harder to do when we are also trying to keep services going day to day while we make the transition.

I am happy to do that. The rented sector strategy will build on what I hope you agree is significant progress in improving standards and tenants’ rights over the years, which has been a collective endeavour by Parliament over some time. We are committed to a public consultation early next year, which will include plans for a new housing regulator for the private rented sector for new and strengthened tenants’ rights, greater restrictions on evictions over winter and additional penalties for illegal evictions. We want to make sure that we can deliver enhanced tenants’ rights, but we want to consult stakeholders on the detail of that. Any legislative issues that emerge from the rented sector strategy can be picked up by a housing bill in the second year of this parliamentary session. It seemed a logical way to do it, so we will consult on the strategy, publish the final strategy later in 2022 and thereafter look at any legislative changes that are required through a housing bill.

I do not know whether you want me to say something on rent controls. Clearly, rent controls are an issue that is part of the agreement with the Scottish Green Party. We want to consult on what a system of rent controls would look like and ensure that there is sufficient local flexibility in taking that forward. That is a big piece of work that we will take forward, which I know that your colleagues have been interested in as well.

The lead minister on the consultation is Kevin Stewart, and he will be able engage with you a bit more about it. However, I will address some of the key points.

I feel quite close to the issue personally, given my previous role in Government. In addition, for many years, I was a home care manager for a local authority. It is a system that badly needs to be reformed. Reforms have been tried through the integration agenda, and good things have come from that, such as the work between local government, the national health service and the third sector becoming far closer. However, without a doubt, if you speak to stakeholders, you find that they are clear about the weaknesses in the current system.

The creation of the national care service is one of the most significant public service reforms that has been mooted for decades. The independent review of adult social care recommended the creation of a national care service, with Scottish ministers being accountable for adult social care support. Therefore, it has not been dreamed up by the Scottish Government; it has come from a series of discussions and reports.

At the end of the day, it is the outcomes that are important. We want a system that supports people to not only survive but be empowered and thrive. We want a national care service that can oversee consistency of delivery of care, improve standards and ensure enhanced pay and conditions for workers. That is not insignificant, given the recruitment and retention issues in social care.

We have established a social covenant steering group, which, importantly, is made up of people with lived experience, to ensure that the new service is designed around the needs of care users and supports the needs of care workers. It is important that the national care service defines the strategic direction and quality standards of social care in Scotland. It will have local delivery boards, which will work with the NHS, local authorities and third and independent sectors to plan, commission and deliver the support.

The consultation that was launched on 9 August remains open until, I think, the beginning of November. It is vital that we hear the views of as many people as possible, including local government. Local government will be a key partner in making it happen. I am aware of COSLA’s position on the service, and we might not ever agree on the principle of it. However, I hope that we might get to that position, and I certainly hope that we can work together on the implementation of the service. It is incredibly popular with stakeholders and many who work on the front line of social care.

We cannot continue with the current system, and I personally feel very strongly about that. We need a different system that ensures consistency of standards and delivers for people, rather than a system that people have to fit into.

I hope that my observations give you a flavour of the Government’s position. We have work to do with COSLA to try, as far as we can, to overcome its concerns.

At the end of the day, what matters for me is outcomes. Where power lies and how it is exercised are about what the best outcomes are.

My colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Kate Forbes, is in detailed discussions with COSLA about whether there are ways of making local government’s life easier when it comes to, for example, ring-fenced budgets and their asks in relation to revenue raising. All those things will be under consideration to ensure that local government can exercise its functions in the way that it wants to. Local autonomy is important.

However, it strikes me that sometimes in Parliament, it is demanded of me and others that we should have a national approach to things that 32 local authorities currently decide on. Other times, there is criticism that local government should be given the autonomy to make decisions. These are not always easy demands to balance, so I think that we should focus on what the best outcomes are for the communities and people who are served. Wherever the power lies to deliver those outcomes, that should be our guiding principle.