Reforming adult social care support
Social care is an investment in Scotland’s people, society and economy. Many of us, or many of our family members or friends, will already use social care. Most of us will need to use social care at some point in our lives. The social care sector employs some 200,000 people and has an estimated financial value to Scotland’s economy of £3.4 billion.
Social care support is about supporting people to:
- live independently
- be active citizens
- participate and contribute to our society
- maintain their dignity and their human rights
We are committed to supporting people to stay at home or in a homely setting, with maximum independence, for as long as possible. We also want to attract and retain the right people to work in social care support and social work and raise the status of social care as a profession.
Information on adult social care support and services in your area is on the COSLA website.
The reform programme
We launched a national programme to reform adult social care in 2019, working with a range of people and stakeholders.
The programme was paused in early 2020 to allow the social care sector to focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the Independent Review of Adult Social Care in 2021, our focus is now on the creation of a National Care Service
As part of the programme’s work we published:
- a summary of discussions we held around the reform of adult social care (June 2019)
- a partnership programme framework (June 2019)
- our vision for adult social care support (June 2019)
We created the people-led policy panel and a leadership alliance to support this programme. The people-led policy panel still meets regularly to support ongoing social care improvement and the development of the National Care Service. The leadership alliance is no longer in place.
More information
- The self-directed support Scotland (SDSS) website provides tools and support for people at each stage of their social care journey
- The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is the social care workforce regulator
- The Care Inspectorate is the social care quality and standards regulator
- The Coalition of Care Providers in Scotland (CCPS) represents third sector and not-for-profit social care and support providers in Scotland