A “marginal saving” that will harm the most marginalised

CCPS is deeply concerned by the impact of changes that Scottish Ministers have unilaterally made to the funding of pay for frontline staff in commissioned social care services in the 2026-27 Scottish Budget.

The decision to save a marginal sum risks support for the most marginalised people, and those who work with them. Our members are also angered by Scottish Ministers’ absolute lack of transparency in this change.

The briefing, which was shared with MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Finance & Public Administration Committee ahead of consideration of their budget report in private session today, explains the key issues involved in the decision and rebuts claims that changing the social care pay calculation is a reasonable choice.

It also summarises our asks of the Scottish Government, which are:

• Return the ring-fenced funds required to uplift adult and children’s social care pay from the Real Living Wage (RLW) 2025-26 to the RLW 2026-27, without further harm to social care investment which is already too low to meet need.
• Enter further discussion on how to reverse the decline of our sector through this budget – a move which will be essential to Scottish Government ambitions.
• Commit to actively rebuilding trust with providers, which has been significantly damaged by how Scottish Ministers have handled this change.

Click here to download the briefing