The Scottish Government

Policy Development

In January 2001 the Government announced its intention to move towards the introduction of free personal care for older people.

The Care Development Group, comprised of professionals who worked with older people and representatives of older people's organisations, was set up to look at implementing this. The Group was chaired by Malcolm Chisholm, then Minister for Health and Community Care, and commissioned research to inform the report, published in September 2001.

The strands of research can be viewed at the following links:

Providing Free Personal Care For Older People: Research Commissioned To Inform The Work Of The Care Development Group

Public Attitudes To The Provision Of Free Personal Care

Attitudes to the Provision of Free Personal Care

Public Attitudes To The Provision Of Free Personal Care: Older People's Focus Group

Providing Personal Care to Older People in Scotland: The Perspective of Independent Home Care Providers

Demand For, And Utilisation Of, Personal-Care Services For The Elderly

Informal Care of the Elderly in Scotland and the UK

The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 provided the legislative backing for the policy and was introduced on July 1 2002.