MORE than £28 million has been spent on scoping out the SNP’s national care service (NCS), figures showed today as opposition to the proposal mounts.

A written answer to Tory MSP Craig Hoy confirmed that £28.7m had been “spent on work related to the NCS,” including with consultancy giants KPMG.

The findings came just days after the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) withdrew its support for the controversial centralising proposals, joining Unison’s Simon Macfarlane, who told MSPs last week that the government should instead turn its attention to the “failed market in social care.”