CCPS responds to Scottish Budget passing: “it’s time to fund social care like it matters”

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.”