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Scottish Care responds to social care Living Wage funding announcement

Today’s announcement by the Scottish Government of £20 million to address the funding gap in paying social care workers the Real Living Wage is a welcome and necessary intervention.

This decision recognises what providers, workers, local government and trade unions have been consistently clear about: the workforce is the heart of social care, and failure to properly fund the Real Living Wage places both staff and the sustainability of services at unacceptable risk.

While this funding will not, on its own, resolve the wider and deep-rooted challenges facing the sector, it is an essential step in the right direction. Ensuring that social care workers are paid fairly for their skilled, compassionate and vital work is fundamental to retaining staff, maintaining safe services, and supporting the wider health and care system.

We are grateful to all those who have stood alongside us in recent days to raise the urgency of this issue, including colleagues in local government, other provider bodies and trade unions. The collective voice of the sector has been instrumental in ensuring the seriousness of the funding gap and its consequences were clearly understood.

However, it is also important to acknowledge that the situation should not have arisen in this way. The lack of consultation and the unilateral approach to funding decisions have caused real anxiety for providers and workers alike, and have placed unnecessary strain on services already under significant pressure. The recent treatment of the workforce has been regrettable, and must not be repeated.

This announcement must now be seen as a foundation, not a conclusion. Much more will be required to address the true cost of care, ensure fair and transparent commissioning, and secure the long-term sustainability of social care services across Scotland. We remain committed to working constructively with the Scottish Government, COSLA and wider partners to achieve a system that properly values social care and those who deliver it every day.

Read the Scottish Government Budget update here: Budget agreement secured – gov.scot

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Scottish Care highlights Real Living Wage funding crisis in Care at Home & Housing Support

Scottish Care has today released a new Real Living Wage (RLW) and Sustainability Briefing Pack outlining the growing financial pressures facing Scotland’s Care at Home and Housing Support sector. The publication accompanies a national media statement highlighting the urgent need for government action to protect essential community care services and the workforce who deliver them.

A widening gap between costs and funding

Care providers across Scotland are grappling with significant financial strain following the Scottish Government’s recent unilateral change to how the RLW uplift is calculated.

This change—made without consultation with COSLA, providers or trade unions—has created an estimated £19 million shortfall in funding. The revised approach places the burden of rising wages onto providers while contract rates remain too low to cover the true cost of delivering care.

This funding gap is deepening instability across the sector. Many providers report that they are struggling to maintain financial viability, absorb statutory workforce costs, and protect service quality.

Systemic pressures beyond the RLW uplift

The briefing highlights wider structural challenges that continue to undermine the sustainability of social care services, including:

  • Opaque commissioning and procurement practices by local authorities, leading to inconsistent rates and unpredictable referrals
  • Chronic underfunding of care at home services
  • Delayed payments and uplifts that do not match statutory wage increases
  • Growing financial risks, pushing some providers to withdraw from publicly funded care
  • Unequal access to care arising from inconsistent local decision‑making

These pressures threaten both provider resilience and the continuity of care for individuals and families who rely on community‑based support every day.

Growing evidence of a sector at breaking point

Scottish Care’s own research reinforces a clear and concerning pattern:

  • Wage pressures are rising faster than contract uplifts
  • Many providers now operate at break‑even or at a loss
  • Chronic underinvestment is increasing the risk of service reduction or withdrawal
  • Variability between local authority practices is eroding fairness and stability

Collectively, this evidence strengthens the case for coordinated national action.

Scottish Care’s call to government

In our media statement, Scottish Care emphasises that the current funding model is unsustainable and places providers “in an impossible position”. We are calling for:

  • Restoration of sufficient RLW funding
  • Transparent, consistent commissioning across Scotland
  • Contract uplifts that reflect the real cost of delivering care
  • A sustainability mitigation plan to protect services and the workforce

Without urgent intervention, the sector faces increasing instability, workforce insecurity, and risks to the continuity and quality of care.

Access the full briefing

The full Care at Home & Housing Support RLW/Sustainability Briefing Pack (February 2026) can be accessed here: https://scottishcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SRLW-CAH-BRIEFING-PACK-04-02-26.pdf

Scottish Care members can access a comprehensive Advocacy Pack via the Members Section of the website.

For further information, please contact Scottish Care at [email protected] or 01292 270240.

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Scottish Care launches Real Living Wage & Sustainability Advocacy Pack

Scottish Care has today published a new Care at Home & Housing Support Real Living Wage (RLW) and Sustainability Advocacy Pack, alongside a national media statement highlighting the urgent financial pressures facing Scotland’s independent and not‑for‑profit social care sector.

The launch comes in response to significant concern across the sector following the Scottish Government’s recent change to the RLW uplift calculation model, which has resulted in an estimated £19 million funding shortfall. This gap leaves current contract rates unable to meet wage requirements and intensifies the fragility already felt by many providers.

A sector under unprecedented strain

Care providers are reporting growing instability due to:

  • A unilateral change to RLW uplift funding that shifts the burden of wage increases onto providers
  • Insufficient contract rates and lack of transparency in local commissioning
  • Delayed payments and inconsistent uplift application
  • Rising workforce costs, statutory obligations, and increasing service demand
  • Persistent underinvestment that threatens the viability of publicly funded care

These challenges undermine both provider sustainability and the continuity of care for individuals and families across Scotland.

What the Advocacy Pack provides

The new Advocacy Pack offers:

  • Clear background on the funding shortfall and its implications
  • Evidence from Scottish Care research, member surveys, and wider sector reports
  • Case studies, including the Falkirk Action Plan, demonstrating how local collaboration can drive improvement
  • Practical tools for providers:
    • Draft letters to HSCPs, local authorities, Scotland Excel and elected representatives
    • A draft media statement and briefing materials
    • A one‑page ministerial briefing
    • Access to additional evidence papers
  • Key messages to support coordinated advocacy in the lead‑up to the Scottish Budget and national elections

The resource is designed to support members in engaging with policymakers, highlighting risk, and calling for urgent action on fair and sustainable funding.

A call for decisive leadership

In our accompanying media statement, Scottish Care warns that providers are being placed “in an impossible position”, forced to absorb costs that should sit with the public sector and facing contract rates that fail to reflect the true cost of delivering care. Without swift action, the sector risks further service withdrawal, workforce instability, and reduced access to essential support for vulnerable people.

We are urging the Scottish Government and local authorities to:

  • Restore RLW funding
  • Review and uplift contract rates to reflect actual cost of care
  • Provide consistent, transparent commissioning
  • Commit to a sustainability mitigation plan to protect services and staff

Access the Advocacy Pack

The full Advocacy Pack can be downloaded below:

Advocacy Pack: Real Living Wage Uplift & Sustainability (Feb 2026)

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2025 Social Care Nursing Survey Now Open

We’re pleased to launch the 2025 Social Care Nursing Survey, which was last undertaken in 2021. This important survey aims to gather unique and invaluable data on the numbers, experiences, and support needs of nurses in social care, as well as the organisations that employ them.

The insights gained from this survey will provide crucial nursing data not available elsewhere, helping to shape future strategies, advocacy and policies to better support nurses in social care. Your participation is crucial in ensuring we capture a comprehensive picture of the current landscape.

The survey is designed to be comprehensive yet straightforward, taking approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. To facilitate the process, having some basic information about your service, staffing and nurse employment in the last 12 months on hand before you begin will likely be helpful. Please ensure someone with sufficient knowledge completes the survey on behalf of your organisation.

Please click on the link below to access the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/socialcarenursing25

We encourage all services that employ nurses to complete the survey by the 31 July deadline. You are welcome to complete the survey at a service or organisation level, but please ensure there are not multiple responses which duplicate data.

If you have any questions or need assistance with the survey, please get in contact with Becca Young – [email protected].

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to improving social care through active membership of Scottish Care.

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Scottish Care Calls for Urgent Action Following IJB Finance Report

Scottish Care Calls for Urgent Action on Social Care Funding Following IJB Finance Report

Scotland’s Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) are facing significant financial strain, with a new Audit Scotland report highlighting rising service costs, budget deficits, and a 40% drop in reserves. Nine IJBs now have no contingency funds, raising concerns over long-term sustainability. While most planned savings were achieved in 2023/24, many were one-off measures, meaning further budget adjustments will be needed.

Looking ahead, IJBs face a £457 million funding gap for 2024/25, underscoring the urgent need for realistic financial planning and collaboration. High turnover in leadership roles adds further uncertainty, while the report stresses the importance of transforming services through prevention and early intervention to manage growing demand.

Today’s report on the financial state of Scotland’s Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) makes for disturbing reading. It articulates a position of financial constraint and growing pressures which will be familiar to those who provide social care as well as those who access this support.

Scottish Care has long advocated for a fairer redistribution of health and social care funding, ensuring that the priorities of prevention and early intervention are actually achieved.

We welcome Audit Scotland’s clear assessment and support its call for a whole-system approach to prioritising preventative care and support.

Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, said:

“In a situation of limited financial resources, we must allocate funding wisely to truly strengthen social care, primary care, and general practice. We simply cannot continue pouring yet more money into acute and secondary NHS care while at the same time bleeding and stripping out the care and support from social care organisations.

We need to stop people getting into hospital and then being delayed from getting back home – the way we do that is to invest in social care.

Whole-system reform, which includes all parts of the health and social care sector, is now time critical.”

You can read the report here: Integration Joint Boards’ Finance Bulletin 2023/24 | Audit Scotland

 

 

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Perth & Kinross Council Announces £6.7m Social Care Investment

Perth & Kinross Council has announced a £6.7 million funding boost for social care as part of its latest budget, with the additional investment directed to the Perth & Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). This funding aims to help sustain vital services amid increasing financial pressures on the sector.

The investment has been welcomed by social care representatives, who recognise its importance in maintaining current service levels. However, they also highlight the ongoing challenges facing the sector. Dave Henderson, Independent Sector Lead in Perth & Kinross, said:

“I welcome the £6.7m funding from Perth & Kinross Council’s budget to support social care through this additional investment in the Perth & Kinross HSCP. While this funding will not fully address the extensive pressures across the social care system, I recognise the positive impact it will have in helping the HSCP to maintain current levels of provision and services for the people of Perth & Kinross. This, in turn, supports independent social care providers who deliver these crucial services in our area.”

However, he stressed that further national and local resources will be needed to ensure long-term sustainability.

“Like other social care providers across Scotland, they face significant financial and sustainability challenges, including the increasing burden of employer National Insurance contributions. Additional national and local resources will therefore continue to be required, and solutions identified through collaborative working, but this announcement is a positive step for local services, communities and citizens.”

The council’s investment reflects its commitment to supporting vulnerable residents and ensuring the continuation of essential social care services across Perth & Kinross.

The full announcement can be accessed here: Ambitious budget set to empower communities and support the most vulnerable – Perth & Kinross Council (pkc.gov.uk)

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Statement from Scottish Care on the Scottish Budget 2024: initial response

Scottish Care expresses its deep disappointment and frustration at the glaring omission of clear and targeted support for social care in the Scottish Budget. Despite record investment headlines, this budget has failed to address the urgent sustainability challenges facing the social care sector.

While the Scottish Government has pledged £21 billion for health and social care, the lack of ring-fenced funding for social care services and their workforce highlights a disconnect from the real needs of the sector. Social care providers are already at breaking point, grappling with rising costs, including the significant burden of National Insurance increases, which remain unaddressed. These additional financial pressures will force many care providers to reduce services or close altogether, leaving vulnerable individuals without essential care.

Without a robust and sustainable social care sector, the pressure on the NHS and other services will only escalate. The lack of specific detail and ringfenced funding leads us to conclude that this yet more resource for the NHS without a clear prioritising of funding for social care and its workforce.

The Budget commits to £125 million for delivering the Real Living Wage for social care workers by April 2025. Whilst welcome, this is just one element in meeting the true cost of care. Measures to further progress ethical commissioning, recognise pay differentials and address significant funding shortfalls, alongside urgent relief to mitigate the impact of National Insurance increases on social care employers, are essential to securing the future of the sector. Yet, they remain conspicuously absent from this budget.

The omission is not just a policy failure; it is a profound injustice to the thousands of carers, care providers, and individuals who rely on social care every day. Scottish Care calls on the Scottish Government to urgently revisit its priorities, provide the necessary funding and structural reforms, and take immediate steps to alleviate the damaging impact of rising employer costs. The time for action is now.

Dr Donald Macaskill said:

“This Scottish Budget is even more disappointing than we feared it would be. Scottish Care called for a budget that cares. This is a budget that kills. It will kill any reassurance that the Scottish Government truly values social care, and it will kill essential community services which are forced to close and leave workers without employment. But ultimately, it will kill people. People are dying because they can’t get the social care they need. I hear of services that will need to close and make staff redundant by next week.  This is not good enough.

“The Cabinet Secretary for Finance in Parliament this afternoon said that social care funding is absolutely vital if we are going to tackle delayed discharge and look at the system as a whole across the NHS and social care. Yet this budget represents a continued absolute obsessional focus on the NHS that completely fails to learn the basic lesson that if social care is not able to continue, the NHS and all its targets and priorities are going to fail too. Focus on pay for social care workers becomes meaningless if there is not a sustainable sector for them to work in. The Government needs to listen to the sector and act now.”

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Media statement: ‘If you could invest in one thing, make it the social care workforce’

Scottish Care survey highlights issues linked with resourcing and call monitoring leading to workforce and financial unsustainability for care at home providers.

In January 2023 Scottish Care undertook a survey among its members regarding sustainability within the care at home sector. The survey findings repeated the concerns of independent providers, summarising that management of dwindling resources is unsustainable for the sector. This raises concern on the impact of such conditions on those working in and accessing social care and support, those they support, and the wider health and social care  system. Themes which were also prevalent in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, including the unanimous statement that ‘if you could invest in one thing, make it the workforce’.

The way that Care at Home support is arranged differs between Local Authorities yet consistent themes of financial and staffing concerns were prevalent. Other contextual factors raised included an increase in the number of procured 15-minute visits by Local Authorities and the impact of punitive bandings attached to electronic monitoring systems.

The survey revealed that over half of respondents had handed back packages of care delivery hours to their local councils due to an insufficiency in funding to cover increased cost of living and staffing costs such as travel. The lack of appropriate and consistent funding made it difficult to recruit and retain staff. One provider specified that their staff were being recruited by the NHS and agencies where they can be paid more than the increasingly insufficient social care rate set by Government. Friday’s announced uplift for the NHS has widened this gap further, with a hospital cleaner now earning more than a qualified and professionally registered care worker.

Electronic call monitoring was also highlighted in the survey as a tool that, when improperly used, contributed to staff dissatisfaction. Whilst providers recognise that electronic call monitoring could be used to evidence care delivery and to support staff safety when working out in the community yet raised that when this tool was improperly used it made it difficult for staff to apply the personal touch needed for quality care due to its focus on time and task-driven delivery. Additionally, it was at times used by councils to ration funding. Furthermore, most respondents highlighted that they have had to reduce visits with longer travel times, as procurement practice in some areas does not consider the time needed to travel between individuals’ homes and does not adequately compensate staff when an appointment is cancelled at late notice.

Overall, survey respondents reiterated their concerns of how insufficient investment coupled with inadequate commissioning and procurement practices are making the social care sector unsustainable. Recruitment and retention remain a top concern with providers explaining that rising service costs and the costs of living which staff face were not being adequately addressed in pay. Incorporating cost-of-living raises into staff contracts and offering a consistent income were seen as credible solutions for most of the surveyed providers. These solutions were suggested to improve staff retention and quality of care, however it would be impossible to implement without an increase in funding from local councils.

The question remains, now 2 years on from the independent review, are we ready to face the true costs of providing care or should we remain on our crisis led journey into the unknown. Scottish Care is calling for an immediate uplift to all social care staff to £12 per hour.

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For more information or media requests, please contact: [email protected]