25 July 2023

4 Steps Guest Blog: “What is the ethical defence of unequal pay?”

Old concepts of moral principle, politics and logic help explain the absence of fair work in social care, says Ron Culley

Ethos, demos and logos were concepts used by the ancient Greeks to make sense of the world around them: ethos referred to the development of a moral principle or argument, rooted in human values; demos referred to the body politic, to the rules of self-government; and logos referred to reason and rationality, the logical flow of an argument.

Two-and-a-half-thousand years later, and it seems to me these concepts are still useful in making sense of the world around us. The principle of fair work in social care, and the limited political progress that we have made towards it, can be helpfully understood by applying these concepts.

Ethos

The ethical argument for fair work in social care is plainly put. If social care workers across different sectors are delivering similar taxpayer-funded public services, why should the level of pay be different? Given that care workers are providing work of equal value, is the Scottish Government justified in mandating that a Healthcare Assistant in the NHS be paid £14 per hour, a homecare worker in a council £16 per hour, a support worker in a not-for-profit social care provider £10.90 per hour, and a care worker in a private sector care home £10.90 per hour? All of these jobs are comparable in terms of skill and responsibility.

So is it fair that the Scottish Government and Local Authorities have decided in favour of unequal pay? And let’s consider the fact that most people working in the care sector are women and that, on average, women continue to receive lower pay than men. Is it right that the Scottish Government and Local Authorities have not gone further to correct this injustice? Were there to be a reprioritisation of political choices, tens of thousands of women could be taken out of a low wage job. In short, the ethical defence of unequal pay is very difficult to present.

Demos

To explain why this situation nonetheless persists, we need to understand Scottish politics. The reality – however much we might want to pretend otherwise – is that the NHS is politically more important to the Scottish Government than the social care sector. It’s why many arguments about investing more in social care are actually framed around alleviating pressure on the NHS, and not about supporting people to realise their rights as citizens or to give expression to their personal agency. By this argument, social care is only important because to get it wrong damages the NHS, and a struggling NHS is a vote loser.

The other way democratic politics plays into this is in the stewardship of the public finances. There simply isn’t a strong enough tax intake to fund the health and social care system that many people would like, so we have developed a system that supports the cheap outsourcing of public services to the third and independent sector (euphemistically referred to as ‘best value’). That would be fine if it were a level playing field and all providers (including monopolistic providers like NHS Boards and Councils) had to compete for business on the same terms. But that would risk violating one of the golden rules of Scottish politics, that public sector delivery is best (despite evidence that the third sector consistently delivers higher quality care and support).

Logos

The problem with all of this is that it contains flawed logic and makes for poor strategy. What happens if we pay public sector care workers significantly more than third or independent sector workers? The answer is there is a migration of talent and experience from one to the other. As a result, the third and independent sector is weakened, especially given that the labour market has been structurally imbalanced by Brexit and Covid.

How will providers in the third and independent sector respond? I doubt there will be a dramatic implosion – there’s too much market diversity for that to happen. Rather, what we’ll see is a gradual reduction in service delivery across the sector – less care delivered by less people. That in turn will generate more unmet need. And where will those people go? I would imagine social work, GPs and Emergency Departments. Only this time, there’ll be no-one else to turn to.

Ron Culley is CEO of Quarriers, a member of CCPS’s Board and Chair of our Committee on the National Care Service

Find out more about our 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign

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18 July 2023

4 Steps Guest Blog: “It lacks both logic and fairness that social care staff are being paid a base rate of £10.90”

Ian Cumming, CEO of Erskine Veterans Care, urges you to unite and support the 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign

Erskine extends a warm welcome and our full support to the 4 Steps to Fair Work Campaign.

We are members of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland, who all operate within the social care sector as not-for-profit entities. We are all facing challenges of an unprecedented nature. Each day, our member organisations bear witness to the far-reaching consequences of the Scottish Government-funded base rate of pay set at a mere £10.90 per hour, impacting both staff and services alike. 

It lacks logic and fairness that social care staff, who do the same work – delivering the same care and support to the same people, as hospital nursing and care staff – are somehow paid less than their NHS counterparts.  

Regrettably, many dedicated employees are departing their positions to seek better remuneration elsewhere, outside the care sector, while the recruitment of new personnel remains stagnant and a real challenge, against a backdrop of better pay within NHS Scotland for the same roles. The outcome is a loss of invaluable expertise, untapped potential, and the eventual risk of a severe compromise of essential services.

This precarious situation threatens the provision of crucial support to those who require it most. You can be assured that without sufficient social care to support independent living, dignity and wellness in their own community, many of our older, frail and potentially vulnerable citizens will decline in health and subsequently overwhelm the existing NHS provision.     

CCPS’s Fair Work campaign endeavours to rectify this disparity by advocating for the fair recognition and just compensation of social care and support workers. By doing so, we aim to create an environment where the individuals they assist can flourish, receiving the necessary support at the appropriate moments and in suitable locations, particularly as Erskine explores ‘care at home’. 

We implore all who share our vision of equitable treatment for social care staff in Scotland to unite and promote the 4 Steps to Fair Work. Together, let us clearly communicate to the Scottish Government the need for swift and meaningful action in support of the social care sector, which helps keep our older or more vulnerable citizens, living well with dignity and away from hospital, whenever possible. 

Find out more at our Four Steps to Fair Work campaign and get involved. 

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24 May 2023

Comment: Why care homes are not alone in a sector facing intense pressure

Our Chief Executive Rachel Cackett responds to news about the status of care home funding

Rachel Cackett

Responding to news about the status of care home funding across Scotland today, Rachel Cackett, CEO of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers, said:

“The situation for care homes is clearly very serious just now – and care homes are not alone in contending with sustainability issues fuelled by insufficient funding increases and too few staff. Not-for-profit social care is facing these issues in all services right now.

Our member organisations report intense pressure across the breadth of their provision, in community- and residential-based services for older people, in services for people with disabilities, and in services supporting children and families.

Why is this happening? In a large part because, despite a commitment to Fair Work in Social Care dating back to 2019, the Scottish Government has chosen to raise the minimum wage in our sector by just 3.8% to £10.90 this year.

That is an uplift only applied to staff providing registered services to adults. There is no commitment to other social care staff, for example those working in children’s services. The result is more and more of the workforce leaving social care for better terms and conditions elsewhere, jeopardising many key services.

We need to see immediate action on a pay uplift to £12 for all social care staff and across all services.

Amidst this crisis, it’s also vital we remember that there are real people at the heart of all these services. People who need support to thrive and take charge of their lives, and to play an active part in their families, communities, school and work.

We need to see a fair social care system in which workers and people who use services are truly valued. That is central to the First Minister’s vison of delivering on equality, opportunity and community in Scotland.

Unless the pay inequality being experienced by social care staff is addressed it will be impossible to fulfil that pledge.”

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