Eight major organisations representing the social care sector across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have today called on the new Prime Minister to take urgent action to exempt providers from the recent increases to employers’ National Insurance contributions (eNICs). 

In a letter sent to Andy Burnham this morning, organisations representing providers of social care across the UK said such a move would be “a vital first step in providing relief to a sector under immense pressure, while […] more work is done to ensure social care provision can flourish, sustainably, at the heart of our communities.” 

At the end of 2024, the UK Government announced plans to increase eNIC rates and reduce the threshold at which employers start paying this tax. While relief was offered to the public sector, commissioned providers of social care were not given any relief from these increased bills.  

“Social care is fundamental to the wellbeing, independence and dignity of millions of people. Recognition of its vital role is needed more than ever at a time when our sector faces severe instability.” 

At a time when providers were already under huge strain, these additional costs compounded financial pressures, which are already having a noticeable impact on services.    

As set out in today’s letter, “our members report that this additional financial burden has resulted in fewer resources for frontline services and reduced capacity at a time where demand for social care continues to grow.” 

The groups who have written to the Prime Minister today welcomed the emphasis he has placed on the importance of social care. The letter states: “Social care is fundamental to the wellbeing, independence and dignity of millions of people. Recognition of its vital role is needed more than ever at a time when our sector faces severe instability.” 

The organisations also highlight that Mr Burnham has recognised the issues with how eNIC changes were implemented, and the impacts of these changes. 

The letter notes that amendments to exempt social care providers from the increases were passed in the House of Lords but then overturned by the government in the House of Commons and urges the Prime Minister to revisit this exemption at pace. 

The organisations who have signed the letter are: Care England, Care Forum Wales/Fforwm Gofal Cymru, Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), Homecare Association, Independent Health & Care Providers (Northern Ireland), National Care Forum, Scottish Care, Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) 

CCPS CEO Rachel Cackett said: “I welcome the attention the new Prime Minister has placed on social care in recent weeks, and hope this translates into urgent action from all governments in the UK to support a sector under immense pressure. 

“Right across the UK, social care providers need more than just warm words – they need tangible action to ensure their sustainability, so they can continue providing life-changing support to millions of individuals, their families and communities.  

“The Prime Minister has signalled he intends to get to work on a long-term plan for social care – but the truth is, the sector can’t wait.  

“We need action now to make sure providers, their staff and the people they support can flourish, and providing relief from eNIC increases is a vital first step. Only our new PM can drive this change.” 

CCPS is recruiting for a Research and Policy Manager to join our staff team.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Can demonstrate success in delivering credible data analysis and research projects to inform good social policy
• Has experience in developing high-performing policy staff
• Is motivated by driving real change in Scottish society

The successful candidate will work with a bright and committed staff team, experts from our membership and partners to help us increase our impact on behalf of the 80+ not-for-profit social care providers we represent – ultimately improving the lives of supported people and service staff.

This will be a varied management role in which you can really make your mark. You will hold your own portfolio of research and data projects, develop our analytical capacity in house, represent CCPS in policy and research forums and support our policy officers to develop in their profession.

Deadline for applications: 5pm, Wednesday 8 July.

For further details, including a full Job Description and information on how to apply, visit our recruitment page:
Recruitment | CCPS Scotland

I changed my planned contribution yesterday after a vibrant and inspiring day-long meeting of ideas with leaders in CCPS’s membership.

Yesterday coalesced a lot of my thinking on this topic over the last four years as CCPS CEO.

There are many great brains in Scottish public service across all sectors. And yet the premise of investing in prevention, and doing things differently to achieve that, is a no-brainer we seem to keep missing. Why is that?

Yesterday a group of senior leaders from Scotland’s major providers of care and support – my members, some of them in this room – met to debate solutions to the scandal (and I don’t use this word lightly) of a contract with the people of Scotland that feels pretty broken. This is where we are: unless you are in dire, critical need, you may well not get the support you need to live an independent life, a life connected to family, work, education, and community. And as taxpayers we will all see our money wasted on expensive and avoidable crisis interventions that are highly likely to mean people’s outcomes are worse, not better. This seems to be a terrible investment decision. Delayed discharge alone wastes an estimate £440m a year. And that doesn’t include the cost to individuals.

So we need to do better, do different. And I hear the new government is back with the drive to be radical. That well may bode well for the transformation we need to see. Promoting public service reform to cabinet level has real potential. Putting social justice in with housing is a seed for different thinking. I’m not yet quite sure about the 1990s throwback to ‘community care’ but we’ll see. So potential? Yes.

But… the eagle-eyed among you may have seen social posts yesterday about John Swinney, Jenny Gilruth and Ivan McKee hosting a summit on public sector reform (ahead of the debate in parliament this week) with …. Public SECTOR leaders.

And there’s the rub. We don’t yet have a system, a leadership, that gives equal status to leadership across public SERVICE. And so much of the creative, transformational experience and vision for remaking a social contract through public service reform sits in my membership. In this room. In wider civic Scotland.

We should be starting at the top in modelling how political leaders mean to continue. Or we will be on the wrong path from the outset.

Let me share a couple more examples of how the contribution of our sector to promoting, underpinning and deepening people’s rights to independent living, family life, health, work, education, and adequate housing are consistently overlooked.

Targets drive investment. They are process-focused and the driver of a Punch and Judy politics that does no one any favours, least of all supported people. We talk outcomes; we count process points. More Homes Scotland needs to ensure it avoids this from the outset. It’s not just the accounting of bricks that matter; it’s the accounting for people who can get and keep a home.

We hear of the importance of evidence-based investment decisions in these financially straitened times, but little critical assessment of the bias in past investments in evaluating public sector interventions. Where is the investment for us to evidence our successes with people; evidence that can challenge the status quo? And where are the wider public service – non-public sector – voices in powerful forums determining national investment decisions?

We hear about the importance of place-based approaches, 20-minute communities, place-focused leadership. But there is nothing in the presentation of an annual Scottish budget that makes any move to allocate billions in a manner that reflects that. And there is confusion over what local is. Is it local government? Or something else? In that confusion comes fear of loss – of control, of power, of influence, of money – and then we watch a fight brewing. Dare I say the three letters here: NCS.

We hear about the importance in Scotland of a rights-based society. We take pride in this as a bedrock of our culture. But we almost never write a policy that starts from there and develops the supports and protections people can expect. We generally don’t let the money follow that line.

The value of social housing providers and social care providers in their wider contribution to the health of our economy, community and families is not recognised because we are seen through the eyes of a systemic prioritisation of the public sector – too often through a transactional not strategic lens which is, nowadays, rooted in fear-based approaches that affect all partners. We are not seen as a strategic partner and ally here, alongside our public sector colleagues, in service of the public.

That is what I took away from our member discussion yesterday. And that gives me a real focus for how to influence genuine transformation that will challenge us all to use public funds well to support people.

So, in summary: Until confirmation bias in the public sector is addressed I genuinely think little will change. Not because we don’t have amazing, committed colleagues in the public sector – we do – but because we will continue to get the same answers to problems that need to be driven by new ideas and different experience. That requires a Copernican shift in political thinking every bit as big as the change politicians are asking of others.

All of us, in the endeavour of public service reform, must challenge ourselves and each other so that the point of it all becomes central: the people who need support live good lives.

This is an edited version of a speech given by Rachel to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations’ 2026 annual conference, held in Glasgow on 9 June 2026

CCPS has responded to the 2026-27 budget passing its final stage in the Scottish Parliament this evening, urging the next government and parliament to do more to “fund social care like it matters”.

While we welcome the Scottish Government’s decision to return £20m of funding to social care in the budget – and parliament’s endorsement of this today – the budget as passed still does not go anywhere near far enough to support a sector which is facing immense jeopardy.

The draft budget, published on January 13, said that “funding for Health and Social Care will increase to a record high” in 2026-27, which the government has stated fulfils a 2021 manifesto pledge to “increase public investment in social care by 25% over this Parliament”.

Yet, as the Fraser of Allander Institute has identified: “more investment has happened, but it has not been enough to outstrip increased costs, and certainly not to deal with increasing demand.”

Deliberations around this year’s budget have been turbulent for our sector. When the government published its draft budget, CCPS’s CEO Rachel Cackett stated that there was nothing in the budget that seemed “to fully acknowledge the scale of jeopardy Scotland’s social care system currently faces.”

We then learned that the government had unilaterally changed the way it intended to fund pay for frontline staff in care services commissioned by the public sector. And we expressed extreme concern when we became aware of an estimated £19 million funding gap, which the sector would have been expected to meet.

This move came at a time when our members were already being forced to scale back services and rely on reserves to reach financial balance. They simply did not have resources to cover this huge funding shortfall.

In response, CCPS and its members launched into a period of intense influencing, calling on the government to Fund Social Care Like It Matters and return the £19m to the budget.

On 12 February, following budget negotiations with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the government announced that it had changed its mind, pledging an additional £20m to meet Real Living Wage commitments in social care.

CCPS welcomed this U-turn, celebrating the effectiveness of our collective voice in achieving this change, but emphasised that the Scottish Budget still falls far short of what is needed to stabilise and guarantee the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Responding to the budget passing its final vote today, CCPS CEO Rachel Cackett said:

“Seeing the budget pass today will likely cause mixed feelings among the sector. While I am pleased to see £20m of additional funding secured for social care – and am grateful to all MSPs, members and partners who helped effect this crucial change – the budget remains woefully inadequate for a sector facing immense jeopardy.

“At a time when demand for the services they offer is rising, a lack of sustainable funding has meant far too many providers in CCPS’s membership are being forced to reduce the services they can offer. When people can’t access social care support, it impacts their independence, health and wellbeing, adding strain to other services – including the NHS.

“Though a significant improvement compared to its initial draft, the budget still fails to address this reality. It falls far short of what is needed to stabilise and guarantee the long-term sustainability of our sector.

“A rights-based, sustainable system of social care and support would benefit people and communities throughout Scotland, but for this vision to be realised the next government and Scottish Parliament must change the status quo, tackle the sector’s underfunding head-on and finally commit to funding social care like it matters.”