Legislative Programme 2001-02

While the Executive are focussing on the number of Bills as a triumph, comparing this with the miserly number of Scottish Bills which would be put through Westminster in a year, the Conservative Party have criticised this as a 'quantity over quality' approach which will not only prevent committees from adequately scrutinising legislation but will also lead to higher administrative costs.

1. Community Care and Health Bill (Introduced September 2001: Lead Committee - Health and Community Care : Invitation issued to submit written evidence by 10 October 2001)

This Bill implements a range of Executive commitments to improve the delivery of care following the Sutherland Report. It will provide powers to assist with the introduction of free nursing and personal care, enabling the Executive to take forward the work of the Care Development Group. Charges for ‘non-personal’ community care services will remain, both in residential care and at home. The Bill will take reserve powers to enable remaining home care charges to be applied more equitably across Scotland than is currently the case. In itself, this will not solve the "care gap" problem for those who provide residential care but it should be a step in the right direction.

The Bill will also introduce measures to extend joint working between NHS Scotland and local authorities. As part of the ongoing commitment to develop community care services, it will include steps to improve choice in residential care and, by extending the system of direct payments, improve choice and control in home care services. It will also include measures to improve the support to carers, recognising carers' rights. There will also be provision for the value of a person’s home to be disregarded from any means test for 12 weeks following admission to residential care, and to make local authority loans available so that people in residential care would not have to sell their homes to fund their care. It also allows people to make top-up payments to allow them to be able to live in a more expensive setting.

2. Mental Health Bill

This is designed to strengthen the rights of those who use mental health services and of their families. It has been drafted in response to the Millan Committee’s recommendations on mental health, and a Policy Statement will be available "shortly".

The new legal structure will be designed to equip professionals with the legal tools to be able to do their jobs flexibly and effectively within a broader aim of better, safer mental health care.