Almost 50,000 older people have benefited from the policy

The Scottish Executive made the admission in a formal response to a critical report by MSPs.

The Holyrood report had raised concern over funding, the use of waiting lists by some councils, and variations in what the policy covered.

The executive said many "teething problems" would be addressed following the outcome of a review next year.

The executive response stated: "We agree that aspects of the policy may need to be communicated or delivered more effectively.

"We reserve judgment on what may have been seen to be done by central or local government until our current research concludes."

Undue delay

The executive accepted some of the report's recommendations but others were simply "noted", including a call to plug loopholes which allow delays in delivering free care and postcode variations in provision.

The executive agreed that everyone who was entitled to free personal care under the legislation should have it provided "without undue delay".

It also accepted that a review should address funding issues, and said it was already working on a new funding formula, and was also looking at ways of estimating the long-term costs of the policy.

Deputy Health Minister Lewis Macdonald said the health committee had recognised that the policy, introduced in 2002, had been a success, benefiting almost 50,000 older people.

There have been some teething problems in the implementation of this policy which need to be sorted out Deputy Health Minister Lewis Macdonald

He added: "We remain fully committed to the policy and will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that older people receive services in line with their needs.

"Not surprisingly, however, there have been some teething problems in the implementation of this policy which need to be sorted out.

"The committee's report helpfully identifies various issues which need to be resolved, and the executive's response sets out what we intend to do about them."

However, the Scottish National Party accused the minister of complacency and claimed the policy had been turned into a "postcode lottery".