The convener of the parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee has castigated social care minister Kevin Stewart for failing to provide the information required to properly scrutinise plans for a proposed National Care Service.

The proposal, which enviages bringing adult social care under the control of a single, NHS-style service managed by local boards, was unveiled by health secretary Humza Yousaf last year. He called it the “most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the NHS”.

In a report published in December the committee said it had “significant concerns” about the lack of detail the government had provided on how the service will be funded.

In a letter sent to Stewart yesterday, committee convener Kenneth Gibson criticised the minister for failing to provide updated information despite promising to do so by the beginning of March. He also asked Stewart to explain why he waited until two days before the information was due to inform the committee that it would not be forthcoming.

“As you are aware, the committee published our report on 1 December 2022 expressing our significant concerns regarding the lack of detail in the original financial memorandum and requesting that an updated [memorandum] be provided, at least two weeks before completion of Stage 1 of the bill,” Gibson wrote.

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