17 August 2025

“The resilience of our sector is under extreme pressure. There is time to turn things around – but only with immediate action taken in partnership”

CCPS CEO Rachel Cackett on today’s open letter to the First Minister and the Herald’s hard-hitting report into the threat posed to social care

I was up very early this morning to read the Sunday Herald.

Over the past few weeks, writer-at-large Neil Mackay had interviewed a number of Chief Executives of health and social care organisations who are members of CCPS and the ALLIANCE – as well as myself and ALLIANCE Chief Officer, Sara Redmond. He wanted to understand the absolute tipping point faced by charities trying to deliver public services on contracts that just haven’t kept up with costs or demands. In addition, nearly 250 organisations have signed a joint letter to the FM from the ALLIANCE and ourselves calling on the government to increase investment at pace, and work with us, to stabilise our sector.

It’s a big and very hard-hitting piece – reflecting the gravity of the position – and the body of Neil’s article really conveys the dilemma facing so many not-for-profits providing social care and support: do they keep providing vital services through public sector contracts that are too often too poorly funded to preserve quality and dignity; or do they hand these contracts back and see people’s critical support reduced and jobs lost? Both come with real consequences for real people. It’s a story that has been too long under the radar and needed told.

At CCPS a survey of 50 major social care providers earlier this year set out that around two-thirds were planning to eat into their charitable reserves this year to deliver public services and of, these, around 90% would not be a going concern in 4 years if that situation continued.  That’s a wake up call for us all.

There is still – just – time to turn this around, but it’s running out. Hammered by long-term underinvestment, wages set too low by the Scottish Government and now huge increases to national insurance bills from Westminster, there is no longer the time to just look on and ask us to wait.

I speak to our outstanding CEO community regularly. They, and their organisations, are resilient and creative – they’ve had to be for so very long to make things work. But that isn’t sustainable for ever and they can’t be taken for granted.

With a spending review and budget coming up it is absolutely THE time to make some key decisions for the future of crucial support for individuals, families and communities across Scotland. That is the basis of our joint call to the First Minister.  Organisations like those I represent can provide so many of the answers to the policy aspirations for the people of Scotland which this government – and indeed all the political parties – have set out.  But we can only do that if we are here as a sector that is surviving and thriving.

We want to work with politicians and officials to build a better social contract with the people of Scotland, where people’s rights and dignity are honoured and valued, even when times are tough. Our door is open.  It’s time to act.

Read the open letter to the FM and our news story

 

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‘Action needed now to avert health and social care crisis in Scotland’, sector leaders urge First Minister in open letter

More than 200 third sector health and social care leaders have signed an open letter to the First Minister calling for immediate steps to address the crisis threatening the sector

More than 200 third sector health and social care leaders have signed an open letter to the First Minister calling for immediate steps to address the current crisis threatening the sector.

Published today in the Herald on Sunday, the letter makes clear that without action now, the consequences of the crisis will be felt across society, from deepening inequalities to even greater pressure on the NHS and public services – with Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals and families paying the price.

Read the letter and calls in full here.

Led by the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) and the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), and supported by hundreds of its members, the letter makes four key asks of the Scottish Government:

  •   An immediate, substantial cash injection in the upcoming Spending Review, including full cost recovery for employer National Insurance increases
  •   A medium-term fully-funded recovery plan for the sector, to address decades of underinvestment
  •   Multi-year funding agreements adjusted for inflation, to ensure stability for organisations
  •   A firm commitment to fully include the sector in planning and decision-making

The Scottish Government’s recent announcement on reform sets out a commitment to change in the health and social care sector based on the Christie principles, from the widely-supported 2011 Christie Review.

These principles of empowerment, integration, prevention and efficiency provide a blueprint for what public services should be for and how they should be structured.

While the third sector supports these commitments, the reality is that they cannot be delivered without urgent, targeted investment in the very organisations expected to implement the changes.

Evidence from the ALLIANCE and CCPS lays bare the severity of the pressure currently facing the sector, and why the Scottish Government’s ambitions cannot be achieved without investment and stability:

In a March 2024 survey by the ALLIANCE, nearly half (49%) of the member organisations that responded reported their financial position as “insecure”.

A February 2025 poll by CCPS found that 67% of not-for-profit providers are relying on financial reserves to stay afloat – and of these 91% say they will cease to be viable within four years if that trend continues.

Recent data from SCVO shows that 81% of voluntary organisations are facing financial pressures that threaten essential services – an increase of 10% from 2023.

The ALLIANCE and CCPS are committed to working with the Scottish Government to achieve the key asks outlined in the letter in support of your vision for public service reform.

Read the letter and calls in full here.

Read CCPS CEO Rachel Cackett’s blog about the letter and Herald coverage.

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16 June 2025

“If the First Minister is to implement his vision for prevention, we need emergency social care investment now to stem the loss of services”

John Swinney can take a first positive first step to achieving the transformative vision we all want, says CCPS’s CEO Rachel Cackett

A photograph of five people. From left to right: Sara Redmond (The Alliance), Nick Ward (Change Mental Health), Tejesh Mistry (Voluntary Health Scotland), Rachel Cackett (CCPS) and John Swinney (First Minister).

 

A photo of five people at an event. From left to right: Sara Redmond (The Alliance), Nick Ward (Change Mental Health), Tejesh Mistry (Voluntary Health Scotland), Rachel Cackett (CCPS) and John Swinney (First Minister)

From left to right: Sara Redmond (The Alliance), Nick Ward (Change Mental Health), Tejesh Mistry (Voluntary Health Scotland), Rachel Cackett (CCPS) and John Swinney (First Minister)

This morning I attended the First Minister’s event to launch his vision for the future of health and social care, which is rooted in the recommendations of the widely-supported 2011 Christie Review. This meant a re-commitment from Mr Swinney to the core principle of investment in prevention and early intervention as the basis of transformation. 

In April the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s sustainability report suggested that, in economic terms, this is the right approach to avoid spiralling health costs threatening to undermine the entire Scottish economy.

But the government faces more than the infamous Scottish policy implementation gap as it launches this vision. If it can’t root this announcement for the future in the reality of what people are experiencing now, it will face a serious expectations gap perilously close to the 2026 election.

Whilst I can wholly support the FM’s vision to re-invigorate Christie, the fact is that preventative supports are the very services being decimated locally as Integration Authorities look into a £500m funding gap and as support providers, like the not-for-profits CCPS represents, feel the effect of years of underinvestment and devastating national insurance bills imposed by the Chancellor last October.

As services are forced to shrink we are seeing long waits for care and support which is too often now only available when people reach crisis point. If you are trying to get help for a parent with dementia, your teenager struggling with their mental health, or your brother struggling with addictions and facing homelessness, you know this already. Prevention is a long way from reality.

CCPS, with partners across the sector, has shared the severe risks that Scottish and local governments are facing and the importance of an immediate injection of money into the system to avoid harms to people and families who need support to live – let alone to live a good, fulfilled and independent life.

So, if the FM wants to deliver this change for the Scottish people (as I absolutely know he does) he has to immediately stabilise a social care sector on its knees – to put out the fires so there is a sustainable platform for future change.

And he can. If he chooses.

Next week sees the publication of the Scottish Medium Term Financial Strategy. Last week the UK Government announced a year on year 3% increase in health spending in England in the Spending Review. In the past this government has committed the totality of such additional NHS England spend to health spending in Scotland. But our government has integrated the health and social care sector, and its funding.

So, this is our ask of the First Minister after his speech today: commit a majority of the additional funds arising from English health spending to the desperately underfunded social care and support services you need. Make it the first, visible step to the transformative vision you’ve outlined.

Stabilise us now to allow us to help you deliver this welcomed vision, which we want to do. You need us and so do the Scottish people. You know the risks of not doing this; the 1 in 25 Scots needing social care this year, and their families, live that risk every day.

For our sector, this is the hope the FM opened his speech saying was much needed in Scotland.

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5 May 2025

“For the sake of the Scottish people, and our economy, announce a programme for social care” 

Tomorrow the First Minster has an opportunity to do what’s both brave and economically wise, writes Rachel Cackett

Tomorrow – as a late surprise – John Swinney will deliver his last Programme for Government of this parliament. Given none of us was prepared for the sudden appearance of this (and equally none of us is quite clear what has happened to the full scope of the one-year programme announced just last September…), perhaps, in keeping with the surprises, we can hope that some rabbits might get pulled out the hat.

Social care certainly needs one.

The FM has said that “delivery and hope” and “a very radical programme” will be at the heart of his agenda. Well, we could do with some of those too.  

But in the press trailing of the announcement, I’ve not seen social care mentioned once.  Perhaps this is because we really are going to be the grand end-of-speech unveiling.  I hope so, because we have been absolutely clear with the Scottish Government about the state our sector is in, and the consequent risks facing people who are in receipt of support, those who care for them and the wider paid workforce in the sector.   

The human and economic costs of getting things wrong in social care over the next 12 months will be profoundly negative.  There is only one reasonable option here – invest.  Why?  

Because you cannot have a vibrant, equitable economy – and end child poverty too – if: 

  • The NHS, justice and education departments have to step in to waste many millions of taxpayers’ money on wholly avoidable crisis interventions  
  • People cannot be supported to enter or remain in the job market or stay engaged in education or training 
  • Family members cannot continue in work because they are the only option to provide essential support 
  • A major skilled Scottish workforce, made up of over 80% women, are paid too little by government setting baseline wage rates too low 
  • These same skilled staff lose their jobs because services close, and 
  • The loss of services and organisations in our sector has a direct knock-on impact on Scottish suppliers – many of them local businesses. 

We don’t talk enough about the underpinning of our economy, and aspirations, around the eradication of poverty and inequality by social care and support. But tomorrow we need John Swinney to recognise this direct link. There is real urgency here.   

The charities and not-for-profits in CCPS membership, who deliver much of Scotland’s social care, have faced years of underinvestment, rising costs and now huge increases in employer national insurance. Together these are resulting in a systemic destabilisation of the market. In February, we surveyed our members and found that in this financial year: 

  • 57% are seriously considering handing contracts back to commissioners.  
  • 55% are seriously considering reducing the amount of support available. 
  • 92% say lack of eNICs reimbursement will negatively impact their pay award. 
  • 67% are budgeting on the basis of reaching financial balance through reserves and, of these, 91% will no longer be a going concern within 4 years if they continue to reach financial balance in this way.  

(Our survey covered 50 major not-for-profit providers in membership, with £850m income, 28,000 staff and supporting 230,000 people in total).

We now need the Scottish Government to come up with a radical plan of investment to avert a truly terrible position for everyone in Scotland who needs, and delivers, social care and support.  

I know that choosing to allocate investment here may leave some risk elsewhere in the overall Scottish budget; but I am also clear that failing to invest here leaves utterly unacceptable levels of risks in the hands of supported people, their loved ones and staff on the frontline.  Inaction is a political choice. 

So, First Minster, do the brave and economically wise thing:  protect some of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens and pull this rabbit out of the hat in tomorrow’s speech. 

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12 November 2023

More than 100 organisations urge First Minister to value social care staff in 2024-25 Budget

110 organisations from across civil society, including providers, anti-poverty groups, faith leaders, carers’ representatives and equality organisations, sign joint letter sent to the First Minister calling on him to increase pay

110 organisations have signed a joint letter sent to the First Minister calling on him to increase pay for social care staff and demonstrate that they are valued.

The letter, led by the Coalition of Care & Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), is supported by organisations from across civil society, with social care providers joined by anti-poverty groups, faith leaders, carers’ representatives and equality organisations, among many others.

Read the letter and full list of signatories

In September’s Programme for Government, the First Minister announced a new base rate of pay for social care and support staff of £12 from April 2024, increasing from the current rate of £10.90.

As our letter explains, the pledged rate of £12 matches the updated Real Living Wage – sending a clear message to social care staff that they are only worth the bare minimum.

CCPS and signatories to the letter believe that £12 per hour is simply not enough, and that the proposed rate fails to reflect the invaluable societal contribution made by social care staff in supporting people to thrive and live independent lives.

Rachel Cackett, Chief Executive Officer of CCPS, said:

“Social care is at the heart of the First Minister’s vision for ‘Equality, Opportunity and Community’ in Scotland. Yet it is systematically overlooked and undervalued.

“Organisations that provide social care are rapidly losing staff because the current pay of £10.90 is simply too low to retain them and they migrate to better-paid jobs elsewhere.

“It is a scandal that, in communities across Scotland, people who need support to live, thrive and stay independent, can’t get it because there aren’t the staff available.

“As the First Minister will see from the range of signatories to this letter – the first time so many organisations have come together to make a joint call on this issue – we represent an emerging movement who are determined to bring social justice to social care and support.

“We are all clear that a better decision on pay for social care staff is needed in the 2024-25 Budget due to be published next month.”

(ends)

Media contact: Chris Small – chris.small@ccpscotland.org

Notes for editors:

▪ Staff vacancy rate in social care sector

Earlier this year, with the HR Voluntary Sector Forum (HRVSF), CCPS commissioned the University of Strathclyde to conduct a workforce benchmarking survey. In July we published an executive summary from the report finding that social care and support providers in Scotland are struggling with a loss of staff, with an average of 52% of those moving jobs last year leaving the social care sector altogether. Read the report. Read our media release.

▪ Proposed increase to £12 per hour, and Real Living Wage

The proposed rise from £10.90 per hour to £12 per hour for not-for-profit social care staff was announced on 5 September in the Programme for Government. The new rate of £12 for the Real Living Wage was announced on 24 October.

▪ 4 Steps to Fair Work

CCPS’s 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign (June – October 2024) called on the Scottish Government to properly recognise and reward social care staff for the work they do. It shared blogs and video contributions, including from a support worker who said that earning £10.90 per hour means “You can survive, but you can’t really live.”

▪ CCPS

The Coalition of Care & Support Providers in Scotland is the voice of not-for-profit social care providers, with 91 provider organisations in membership.

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24 October 2023

Statement: “With promised £12 per hour base pay no more than the Real Living Wage, social care staff need action now to show they are valued”

Our CEO Rachel Cackett responds to today’s announcement that the Real Living Wage will rise to £12 per hour

Responding to today’s announcement that the Real Living Wage will rise to £12 per hour, CCPS’s Chief Executive Rachel Cackett said:

“Back in September, the Scottish Government announced a £12 per hour base rate of pay for social care staff, starting in April 2024. Today, we know that this offer is no more than the new Real Living Wage amount, which will be introduced at the same time.

This means that many not-for-profit social care staff – who work with disabled people, older people, children, families and many others who need support in communities across Scotland – will now receive just the minimum the Living Wage Foundation calculates is needed to meet every day needs.

This is nothing like enough.

Before the new base rate and RLW kick in next spring, social care staff will have to navigate the winter months as an acute cost of living crisis continues, whilst many earn just the £10.90 per hour currently set by the Scottish Government.

The First Minister’s states his priorities are “Equality, Opportunity and Community”. These priorities are at the heart of social care. Yet a workforce that makes such a vital contribution to society, to supporting people to thrive and live independent lives, continues to face inequality and limited opportunities through poor government pay awards. The knock-on is a lack of available support for the most vulnerable people in our communities.

Investing in the value of social care is a political choice, and there is still time to make the right choice in the 2024-25 Budget. We know public finances are tight. We know we won’t get to parity of pay, terms and conditions for equal work with public sector colleagues overnight. We are very far from that now.

But we need to see a clear step to closing the pay gap in April next year and a plan to get to equality; a move towards showing staff that they are truly valued.

So, we are calling on the First Minister to up his offer to at least £13 per hour for all social care staff from April 2024 as part of a published timetable to achieve Fair Work.

Not as an end point, but to indicate in tough times that our government sees the value of our sector and is committed to ending deep inequities for social care staff in Scotland.”

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5 September 2023

Media statement: Programme for Government social care pay announcement “fails to grasp reality and begs questions over timeline”

Our CEO Rachel Cackett responds to today’s pledge from the First Minister

Responding to today’s Programme for Government announcement, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers’ Chief Executive Rachel Cackett said:

“We welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has recognised the issue of fair pay for social care staff.

“However, today’s announcement represents a failure to grasp the reality of what’s happening in social care in Scotland. It falls way short of what is required and what we’ve called for through our 4 Steps campaign.

“Social care staff needed an immediate pay increase, backdated to April of this year, as a first step in bringing them security – and giving a sense of consistency for the people they support.

“Any further delay will heap pressure on the workforce and services during a prolonged cost of living crisis and through another extremely challenging winter period.

“We’ve called for pay uplifts to be applied to staff in all services, not just those in registered adult social care, and we’ve urged government to deliver funding packages that value the vital role of support staff and managers, alongside frontline workers.

“Anything less than this contributes to distortion in the sector, undermines staff morale and, again, impacts on the quality of relationships and consistency of support for the people in our communities who most need it.

“We are confused by the disparity between the content of the First Minister’s statement at Holyrood and the detail of 2023-24 policy priorities outlined in the letter to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, also published this afternoon.

“In the former, a pay uplift to £12 per hour was expressed as a firm commitment. In the latter, an increase ‘up to £12 per hour’ for adult social care is described as an option to be evaluated. Which is it?

“As a matter of priority, the government must confirm the commitment to a pay uplift with an absolutely definitive timeline, and no backtracking.

“We will be seeking more detail and pushing for clarification about the introduction of the £12 pay uplift, which the First Minister announced 136 days ago.

“We will continue to collaborate with Scottish Government to ensure that fair work can be delivered for social care staff – and we will continue to work to ensure that our campaign calls are answered.”

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4 Steps Comment: Today, the First Minister has the chance to introduce a step change in social care. Will he take it?

The Programme for Government could answer our campaign calls and make a real difference in people’s daily lives, writes Rachel Cackett

It’s been a long year already.

It’s only just turned to autumn, but today is the announcement of the Programme for Government. And for many people in Scotland, the things that really matter in life will turn on announcements made by the First Minister this afternoon – announcements that will show whether the FM’s priorities of “community, equality and opportunity” mean something tangible for the one in 25 people who will access social care this year and all who are employed to provide that support in not-for-profit providers.

For many it’s been a very long year.

If you are someone in need of care and support to stay in your own home or community, to live your life on your own terms, to thrive in your neighbourhood, work or school, you’ve long felt the crisis in social care. You may well have found it difficult to get your needs assessed, or keep the amount of support you need, or to hold on to the valued and trusted relationships as staff are forced to leave our sector.

If you are the loved one of someone who needs care and support, you may well have wondered how on earth you get your mum, dad, child, partner or friend the support they need – and how you get the help to make possible your crucial role as a carer. You’ve watched life become harder for those who need support most. You may be tired, and we know it can begin to feel hopeless.  

If you are a third sector social care and support worker, you’ve seen your real terms income decrease and the gulf between the value given to the work you do and that given to those in the public sector stretched to the limit. Your role in being a part of the very community you serve is lost in the national conversation. In fact, you may have left the social care workforce already, like over 50% of those who moved jobs in our sector at the last count – making the tough choice between a job you love and the need to pay bills for your own family.

If you are a third sector employer, you have probably spent sleepless nights wondering how you are going to keep the show on the road with far less money coming in. You know you need more to keep your staff and pay going, all while trying to meet the increasing needs of your communities through a cost-of-living crisis.

Today, the First Minister could make the beginnings of a step change to all of that.

We know that the historic underinvestment in social care isn’t going to be solved overnight. But it’s 136 days since our new FM promised a starting salary of £12 per hour.  None of those who need a functioning, thriving social care system to live can wait a minute longer for action.

That is why CCPS has been building support for its #4StepsToFairWork campaign over the summer.  We’ve had support from providers, social care staff, carer organisations and, at the end of August, the support of Scotland’s faith leaders. I would like to thank each and every person who has made their voice heard in this.

And let’s be clear. We have heard many imperatives – economic, equality, social justice, human rights, moral imperatives – to delivering Fair Work for those who provide care and support.

Our calls our simple.  And they will be our measure of any announcement today on the move towards parity for those who provide care and support in our sector, and recognition of the importance of upholding the rights of people who need that support.

The calls are:

  • Deal with pay inequality: As a first step, implement the promise of a minimum of £12 per hour for social care staff, starting from 1 April 2023.
  • Ensure equal pay for equal work: Apply pay uplifts to staff in all services, not just those in registered adult social care.
  • Value all staff who play their part: Deliver funding packages that value the crucial role of support staff and managers, alongside frontline workers.
  • Give us hope of equality: Publish a timetable by this September to deliver fully on Fair Work in Social Care by 2025.

So as a final message this morning to our First Minister: please don’t tell us there is no money. We know how tight things are. Instead, tell us how you are choosing to allocate a fair proportion of the money you do have to our sector. Show us how you will ensure your priorities mean something real in people’s daily lives. Tell us that you recognise the true value of social care.

Read more about our 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign

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18 April 2023

Comment: The days of ‘jam tomorrow’ promises on social care in this country are over. It’s time to act

It should be a national scandal that government after government, whether in Holyrood or Westminster, has kicked decisions on investing in social care and support down the road, over and over again, writes CCPS’s CEO Rachel Cackett.

Rachel Cackett

I’ve been listening to the First Minister’s speech to parliament this afternoon with a growing sense of frustration and anger. It should be a national scandal that government after government, whether in Holyrood or Westminster, has kicked decisions on investing in social care and support down the road, over and over again.

Today was no exception. £12 per hour aspired to, but only for those working with adults. A delivery timetable on pay promised, with no clear dates. No indication of how hoped-for investment in frontline staff will support career progression for good people doing good and essential work to support our neighbours, our families, our friends.

The Scottish Government keeps telling us there is no money to meet their own commitment to Fair Work in Social Care – to close the outrageous 20% pay gap between NHS support workers and third sector social care support workers who are starting out in their career. But I would note that we often hear this in the same breath as money is magically found for other sectors, often in the face of actual or threatened strike action.

So, again, staff in social care fall behind. And providers struggle to recruit. And they struggle to keep staff who need to make ends meet for their own families. And politicians wonder why Scotland faces persistent health inequalities, under-attainment, poverty, unbearable pressure on our NHS….

So, this is our call to this government: Value social care’s contribution to the people and the economy of Scotland. Pay all staff properly and fairly for the work they do. Stop skewing the health and social care labour market by knowingly baking in inequities. And stop expecting charitable providers to shoulder the financial consequences of poorly thought-out and implemented national policy on social care investment.

Our First Minister could start by doing this in three, practical steps:

  1. Implement a Scottish Social Care Living Wage right now by committing to a 2023-24 social care uplift for ALL staff, to an hourly rate of at least £12.
  2. Pay all uplifts on 100% contract value to ensure employers can invest in all their staff fairly.
  3. Publish a three-year timetable by the next Programme for Government to deliver Fair Work in Social Care through parity of pay and key terms & conditions.

CCPS has detailed to the government repeatedly the unintended consequence of its approach on the future of social care in this country. We hear every day from providers about the truly difficult decisions they are having to make. The days of ‘jam tomorrow’ promises are gone. It really is time to act.

 

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24 March 2023

Vison and priorities for social care: Humza Yousaf responds to our questions

One of the three candidates vying to be Scotland’s next First Minister has outlined his commitments.

Humza Yousaf, one of three candidates competing to be Scotland’s next First Minister and leader of the SNP, has responded to a letter sent by our CEO Rachel Cackett and Board chair Andrea Wood.

In the letter, sent on 7 March, the candidates were asked three questions:

  • Will you commit to our 4 Steps to Fair Work?
  • Will you commit to implement social care reform and meet with us, within your first month in post, to discuss constructive ideas for positive and urgent change?
  • How would you articulate your own vision for social care reform in Scotland?

In response Mr Yousaf, who has been Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since 2021, said:

“Thank you for taking the time to contact me as a candidate in the SNP leadership contest and for your patience in waiting for a response.

Currently as Cabinet Secretary of Health and Social Care, the issues you raise are important to me and would continue to be so if elected as First Minister.

There are two key commitments I want to make in regards to the Health and Social Care sector.

We need to make sure that our staff are properly paid – not only to recruit staff but to retain them.

Secondly, we have some reform to do in our NHS which will see as many people as possible treated as close to home as possible, leaving our hospitals available for emergencies only. This means that investment in our Social Care sector is at the heart of NHS reform and for bettering the conditions of work for social care workers.

If we have social care that has the right workforce, that is working for people, then we can stop them from coming in the front door of hospitals or GP practices, but we can also work on stopping the exit block and see people getting out the doors of hospitals as soon as they are fit to do so and back into their community, keeping as close to home as possible.

Therefore, reforming health care and social care has to be at the heart of my leadership. That is why I am passionate about the idea of a National Care Service – although I recognise that current proposals will need amendments, via dialogue with Local Government, Trade Unions, and membership organisations to make sure it works for everyone.

The principle of the National Care Service, where we have fair pay for our social care workers, where we have national collective sectoral bargaining, and where we have ethical commissioning – these markers will solidify a national social care system that is worthy of the name.”

Our letter also argued that a legislative pause could be an opportunity for the new First Minister to look afresh at social care reform based on our model, and to drive forward Fair Work and sustainable funding.

Ash Regan and Kate Forbes have yet to respond.

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