Public Bodies (Joint Working) Scotland Bill: Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

Consultation

The development of the Bill has been undertaken in a collaborative way, with extensive engagement with internal and external stakeholders.

Within Government

We have engaged with a wide range of colleagues across the Scottish Government to develop the Bill including:

• ACSD: Policy for Carers
• ACSD: Self Directed Support (direct payments)
• CLLS: Family and Property Law
• DCAF: Children's Rights and Wellbeing
• DCAF: Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser
• DFEP: Pharmacy and Medicines Division
• DHSCI: Chief Dental Officer and Dentistry Division
• DHSCI: Integration and Reshaping Care (reshaping care team)
• DHSCI: Joint Improvement Team
• DHWP: Health Workforce and Performance and Support
• DJUST: Community Justice
• EAC: Better Regulation and Industry Engagement
• EAS: Employability, Skills and Lifelong Learning Analysis
• HCNO: CNOD Policy Unit
• HRS: Housing Transitions and Support
• LG: Local Government Outcomes and Partnerships Unit
• PCARE: Primary Care Development
• PHARM: Pharmacy Branch
• PHD: Tobacco, Alcohol and Diet (alcohol team)
• PSP: Public Involvement
• RCMHD: Protection of Rights Unit
• SCD: Drugs Policy Unit
• TQU: Analytical Services
• TQUAS: Resources, Efficiency and Workforce

Scottish Government colleagues have helped to identify businesses and/or organisations to consult with and are ensuring that the integration of adult health and social care is aligned with other policies across the health and social care directorate.

Scottish Government officials provided input regarding the potential impacts. Further detail can be found in the 'Scottish Firms Impact Test' section.

Stakeholder Engagement Prior to the Public Consultation

In 2010, the Scottish Government carried out a wide public and professional engagement exercise for the Reshaping Care for Older People^[2] policy. This policy aims to shift the model of care across Scotland from being heavily institution based, to a more community based support. From this we know that there are three main problems with the current system that people want us to address:

• Inconsistency in the quality of care for adults and older people across Scotland;
• People are too often unnecessarily delayed in hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge; and
• The services required to enable people to stay safely at home are not always available quickly enough, which can lead to preventable and undesirable admissions to hospital.

In 2011, following the Scottish elections and as preparation for developing these proposals for legislation, the Scottish Government engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including the statutory partners, third and independent sectors and professional and staff organisations. The consultation proposals were developed from this period of engagement. Ministers announced the Scottish Government's commitment to improving health and social care outcomes and outlined proposals for reform that would assist in achieving that aim, at a debate^[7] held on 15 December 2011.

Public Consultation

The public consultation process included an invitation for individuals and organisations to submit written responses to the Integration of Adult Health and Social Care in Scotland: Consultation on Proposals^[8] document; and consultation events/meetings. The consultation ran from 8 May until 11 September 2012 and 315 written responses were received. A partial BRIA was included within the consultation document and respondents were encouraged to provide comments regarding the potential impacts on business.

Nine public and practitioner events were held over the summer where around 900 people attended. The target audience included health and social care professionals from statutory and non-statutory organisations; carers; users of health and social care services; and members of the public more widely. In addition, Scottish Government officials contributed to around fifty local events including focus groups, local forums and seminars. This provided Scottish Government officials the opportunity to talk to around 2000 people.

A report of the analysis of the consultation responses^[9] was published on 19 December 2012. The Scottish Government published its response to the consultation analysis^[10] on 13 February 2013.

The Bill Advisory Group^[11] was convened on 16 March 2012 and informs the development of the legislation for the integration of adult health and social care. The Bill Advisory Group will support development of the Bill and, if necessary and appropriate, during the parliamentary process. The Group provides an overview of the policy work directly relating to the development of the Bill. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has committed to Chairing relevant Bill Advisory Group meetings, with the COSLA Health and Wellbeing Spokesperson. The Bill Advisory Group takes into account other policies, strategies and other relevant Bills. Membership and minutes from the meetings can be accessed on the Scottish Government website^[11].

Business

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill places duties on local authorities and Health Boards. We do recognise that a variety of businesses that provide services within the health and social care sector, as well as those that support the provision of such services, will also be affected by the impact of this legislation. This includes independent social care providers, community services such as pharmacy, care homes, suppliers of home care equipment and adaptations, support organisations, providers of care at home.

In July 2012, we hosted two BRIA workshops. The aim was to identify potential impacts that our proposals could have on Scottish businesses. The discussions were broken down into five main categories: costs and benefits to businesses; impact on businesses; commissioning services; IT provision; and data to support statements. The following organisations contributed to the BRIA workshops:

• Community Pharmacy Scotland
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Directors of Pharmacy
• Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland
• National Pharmacy Association
• Safeguarding Communities - Reducing Offending
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
• Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
• Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers
• Strathclyde Partnership for Transport

In addition, organisations commented on the potential impacts on businesses by submitting a formal response to the public consultation and/or attending engagement events.

Further detail on the workshops discussions and formal responses can be found in the 'Scottish Firms Impact Test' section.