The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is undertaking an inquiry into how the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 has worked since it came into force. This inquiry is post-legislative scrutiny.
The Committee wants to know if the Act is producing the expected outcomes, to what extent, and if not, why not?
The main provisions of the Act came into effect in April 2014.
The Act was intended to ensure that care and support is arranged, managed, and delivered in a way that supports choice and control for individuals.
Four fundamental principles of SDS are built into the legislation:
All social care in Scotland should be provided in line with the principles set out in the Act.
In addition to the principles, the Act contains a duty on local authorities to offer four options to people who have been assessed as needing a community care service:
The Committee agreed a two-phase approach to its post-legislative scrutiny:
The Committee's call for views was open for submissions between 3 November 2023 and 12 January 2024.
Read the responses on Citizen Space
Read the summary of the call for views (577KB, pdf) posted 15 February 2024
The inquiry was discussed at the following Committee meetings:
The Committee worked with several stakeholder organisations to carry out the following activities:
The Committee completed phase 2 of its scrutiny during June 2024 with four oral evidence sessions exploring:
The Committee published its phase 1 report on 3 May 2024.
The Committee published its phase 2 report on 9 September 2024.
The Committee has sent and received the following correspondence during the inquiry:
Correspondence from Angus Health and Social Care Partnership following the publication of the Committee’s phase 2 report, 24 December 2024
Correspondence from COSLA following the publication of the Committee’s phase 2 report, 20 December 2024
East Dunbartonshire submission to HSCS Committee, received 25 November
Letter from the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport following her giving evidence on 26 June, 16 July 2024
Letter from Healthcare Improvement Scotland following their giving evidence on 18 June, 2 July 2024
Letter from Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership following their giving evidence on 11 June, 21 June 2024
Letter from Self Directed Support Scotland following their giving evidence on 4 June, 18 June 2024
Letter from Social Work Scotland following their giving evidence on 4 June, 17 June 2024
Letter from Self Directed Support Scotland on behalf of the National SDS Collaboration to the HSCS Convener concerning post-legislative scrutiny of the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013, 17 June 2024
Letter from Inspiring Scotland following their giving evidence on 4 June, 14 June 2024
Letter from Key concerning good practice examples of self-directed support, 3 May 2024
Letter from the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport to the HSCS Convener concerning post-legislative scrutiny of the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013, 13 December 2023
Letter from the HSCS Convener to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport concerning post-legislative scrutiny of the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013, 3 November 2023