The Scottish Government should focus more on tackling the ‘ineffective' funding of social care rather than adding ‘bureaucratic layers' to the system, public finance experts have said.

In a consultation response, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) criticised the introduction of a National Care Service board, arguing it amounted to ‘adding bureaucratic layers rather than addressing fundamental issues like ineffective funding'.

CIPFA's social care policy adviser William Burns yesterday suggested that investing resources in structural change was not the best use of limited funds ‘when immediate challenges demand attention'.

Social care minister Maree Todd insisted that social care needed to be ‘fundamentally' transformed, adding Holyrood was committed to establishing a National Care Service board that ‘delivers clear, consistent national care standards by the end of this Parliamentary term'.