SNP ministers have “recklessly squandered” over £17 million deploying staff to work on their controversial centralised care service, the Scottish Conservatives can reveal today.
A response from SNP social care minister Maree Todd to Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy confirms that the costs of civil service preparation have now hit an “eye-watering” £17.4 million – and counting.
A total of 160 civil servants are working on the plans for a National Care Service, with the costs in 2023-24 alone estimated to be almost £10 million, or over £800,000 per month.
Last month Maree Todd confirmed to Holyrood’s Finance Committee that implementation costs for the NCS could hit £2.2billion and had been delayed by three years.
Craig Hoy says it is time for the SNP to “ditch” their “illogical” plans – which are opposed by virtually every key stakeholder – and divert these crucial funds towards existing local care services which are “buckling” under the SNP’s mismanagement.
Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said: “The costs of deploying legions of civil servants to work on the SNP’s fatally flawed plans for a centralised care service have reached eye-watering levels.
“This is typical of how the SNP recklessly squander taxpayers’ money. It is astonishing that 160 civil servants are still working directly on these plans – at a cost of over £800,000 per month – when they have been roundly opposed by stakeholders.
“The SNP’s social care minister Maree Todd needs to accept reality and ditch her party’s illogical plans for centralised social care in Scotland, rather than throwing good money after bad.
“The scarcely believable £10million costs for civil servants earmarked for this year should be urgently diverted towards local care services which are buckling on the SNP’s watch.
“Patients suffering delayed discharge or insufficient care – along with dedicated frontline staff – need those vital resources, but they are seeing them being frittered away by an arrogant SNP government who typically think they know best.”
Notes: The question from Craig Hoy and the response from Maree Todd can be read below:
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT
WRITTEN ANSWER
8 January 2024
Index Heading: Health and Social Care
Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are working on preparations for a National Care Service, and what the cost of these civil servants is on (a) an annualised and (b) a cumulative basis.
S6W-23848
Maree Todd: The current Full Time Equivalent of Civil Servants working on the preparations for a National Care Service is 160. The cost of this for 2023-24 is estimated to be £9.77 million. This is an average cost of £814k per month. The cumulative spend from 2021-22 to November 2023 is £17.4 million.