Council bosses have raised concerns of a power grab in Scottish Government’s national social care plan.

Cabinet agreed to approve its response to the Scottish Government Consultation: A National Care Service for Scotland last week [November 2].

North Ayrshire Council was ‘disappointed local authorities were not consulted on the proposed scope of the National Care Service’, in its response to Holyrood.

Council Leader Joe Cullinane said: “I think there is concerns in local government across the political spectrum on the proposals that have been put out to consultation by the Scottish Government.

“I think its good that our response is robust in some of those technical issues regarding local accountability.

"It strikes me that what they are talking about here is a bit of a centralisation power grab rather than fund reform of how social care works and if it just delivered some of the cash increase in the IJB/health and social care integration the system would be much improved anyway.

“I do see merit in a national care service and argued for national care service but for me that should take the form of the NHS, publicly owned and publicly run and what we have here is still a marketised commissioning approach, they would be better calling it a national commissioning service rather than care service as it does nothing to fundamentally change the way care is delivered other than move some local accountability and give more influence and power to ministers sitting in Edinburgh.

"I think its a bit of a missed opportunity if this is the model they end up adopting.”