How can we make public service reform work for Scotland’s social care sector?

This article was first published by TFN on September 1, 2026

After the election on 7 May, the new Scottish Parliament had just six weeks to settle in and get to work before it went into recess. While this didn’t give much time for manifesto promises to become realities, it did allow the new government to signal its direction of travel. And one issue that topped the agenda was public service reform.

John Swinney’s creation of the new role of cabinet secretary for public service reform highlighted the government’s commitment to shake up how public services are delivered. In an 11 June government debate on the topic, the cabinet secretary, Ivan McKee MSP, said this reform would be “the defining task of our parliament”, emphasising the need to focus on prevention and wise investment.

With MSPs returning to Holyrood this week, and the new Programme for Government arriving imminently, we have a real opportunity to usher in much-needed change for public services, including social care. But we need to get this right and ensure this reform is genuinely in service of the public, with a goal of improving long-term outcomes for people, not short-term cost savings. So how can we make this happen?

The good news is that we already have much of what we might term the ‘blueprints’ for reforming social care – and public services more broadly. Earlier this summer marked 15 years since the findings of the Christie Commission were published. These findings remain widely supported across the sector, and the core principles of ‘empowerment, integration, prevention and efficiency’ could transform social care and drastically improve outcomes for people.

Alongside the ambitious vision set out in Derek Feeley’s Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland back in 2021, we have a cornerstone for building a sustainable, thriving social care and support system in Scotland. It is vital that the government revisits these pieces of work to reimagine social care’s future.

What’s more, we need a more effective and efficient local planning and funding landscape as a core component of public service reform. CCPS’s new report on this topic highlights what isn’t working and opens a dialogue on how to improve this system. As part of the reform agenda, we need policymakers to work with providers, commissioners and supported people to fundamentally redesign how social care is planned and funded.

“We have a real opportunity to usher in much-needed change for public services, including social care. But we need to get this right and ensure this reform is genuinely in service of the public, with a goal of improving long-term outcomes for people, not short-term cost savings.”

Put simply, investing in social care would be the very definition of long-term thinking and joined-up preventative budgeting because targeted investment in community-based social care will save the public purse huge costs in the future. And we have the evidence to prove it.

Last year, experts from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence found that housing support services for sheltered housing in Scotland can generate at least £4.85 worth of benefit from every £1 spent on delivery, while for homelessness prevention services, this rises to £12.88 for every £1 spent.

Meanwhile, a study by Social Value Lab on services run by CCPS member Scottish Autism found a social return on investment of £5.31 for every £1 spent. These are just some examples of the huge economic benefits of reforming social care funding.

Of course, the elephant in the room here is that getting these reforms right will take time – and Scotland’s social care sector doesn’t have this luxury. Our sector is in real jeopardy and needs immediate relief.

So while decisions are made on securing a sustainable future for social care, what can the Scottish Government do now to make an immediate difference for a sector under immense strain?

Firstly, we need immediate action to support the social care workforce. Scotland’s social care sector is facing extreme recruitment and retention challenges, and it needs urgent action on fair pay both to recognise the invaluable work social care staff do, but also to make social care a sustainable career choice.

We need the Scottish Government to work in partnership with the sector and unions to finalise and implement a fully funded sectoral bargaining process, alongside a timetable to pay parity with the public sector.

Secondly, we need to see immediate sustainability improvements without delay. The Scottish Government could fast track this by injecting much-needed funds into the sector to alleviate the impacts of rises to employers’ National Insurance contributions (eNICs), while supporting our calls for the UK Government to reverse this decision altogether.

There is so much more the Scottish Government can do to support us, both now and in the long run – but we need a seat at the table to get this right. CCPS and its members already have many of the answers and we are eager to work with policymakers to enact them.

I urge politicians from all parties to collaborate with the sector as equal partners to design and deliver fundamental reforms that can bring us closer to a rights-based, sustainable system of care and support for everyone who needs it, as part of the public service reform agenda.

But in the meantime, the Scottish Government can and should act quickly as parliament returns this week to show the social care sector that it matters. We are ready to work with policymakers to make these urgent steps a reality.