LEGISLATION to implement the Scottish government’s flagship social care reforms “sets a dangerous precedent and should be paused,” MSPs warned today.

The proposed national care service would bring adult social care — and potentially other services, including those for children and people wth drug and alcohol problems — under a single national body set up in a similar way to the NHS.

But opposition parties and unions have raised concerns about a “lack of clarity” in the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, which could empower SNP ministers to bypass parliamentary scrutiny and make arbitrary decisions using secondary legislation.