13 November 2025

Social care spending commitment in winter plan ‘important step in the right direction’

CCPS’s CEO Rachel Cackett responds to today’s announcement from the Scottish Government on Winter Preparedness and National Planning Priorities for Health and Social Care

Responding to today’s announcement from the Scottish Government on Winter Preparedness and National Planning Priorities for Health and Social Care, Rachel Cackett, CCPS’s CEO, said:

“We welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s statement today on Winter Preparedness and National Planning Priorities for Health and Social Care.

“In particular, we welcome the pledge of £20m additional social care investment routed through NHS Boards and directed at strengthening local capacity. Although – as Mr Gray acknowledged – this is still far short of what will be needed to stabilise the sector, this spending commitment represents a significant step in the right direction, particularly ahead of the government’s upcoming spending review. We are keen to now work with national and local partners to understand the detail of how this will be distributed.

“We are also very encouraged by the Cabinet Secretary’s recognition of historic underfunding of our sector, the impact of the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions and changes to visa rules, the need for a prevention-first focus, the importance of staff wellbeing and the strongly rights-based articulation of winter surge planning.

“The announcement today makes clear that not-for-profit social care organisations are regarded by the Scottish Government as vital system partners – as they are and should be.

“It acknowledges all the work that CCPS has done, with its members, in drawing attention to the real jeopardy our sector currently faces, and the unacceptable level of risk being carried by people who receive care and support throughout Scotland.

“In that light, we continue to be ready to work with the Scottish Government, CoSLA and local partners to share insight and solutions so that these major challenges can be resolved, and that people who need support can enjoy independent and fulfilling lives.”

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17 August 2025

‘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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6 May 2025

Programme for Government 2025-26: CCPS response

Today’s announcement by the First Minister follows a pattern of disappointment, says CCPS’s CEO Rachel Cackett

Responding to the 2025-26 Programme for Government, which was announced in the Scottish Parliament today, CCPS’s CEO Rachel Cackett said:

“Today’s Programme for Government followed a pattern of disappointment for our members and the people they support. The words ‘social care’ were not even mentioned in the FM’s speech to parliament.

“Failing to announce any investment plan for the sector, even though we have been clear to government about the crisis we are in, means supported people, their loved ones and staff on the frontline face an utterly unacceptable level of risk.

“And while the First Minister’s pledge to eradicate child poverty is welcome and sincere, failing to increase the Scottish Child Payment is another missed opportunity.”

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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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19 November 2024

How the Action Group’s ‘Real Jobs’ service builds empowerment and understanding

Member Case Study: The first of a new series profiling members’ services, showing how they help people live their life independently and thrive in their communities

In the run-up to the Scottish Government’s Budget announcement on 4 December and beyond, we’re sharing positive stories from our members about how their services help people live their life independently and thrive in their communities. In this short case study we profile The Action Group’s Real Jobs service, demonstrating its success – and how further investment would allow it to have an even greater impact.

Action Group’s Real Jobs service enables supported people to access or maintain employment, education or training in Edinburgh City Council.

Through this service, the Action Group has been working with a client for the past few years who has a senior position within the NHS. The client experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adulthood, which had a major, significant impact on their ability to live an independent life. Her recovery was remarkable: from a Glasgow Coma Scale 3, she was able to rehabilitate to a place where her disability is hidden.

However, this comes with its own issues in the workplace: a lack of understanding of hidden disabilities. The individual found their managers made regular assumptions that any issues at work are related to their support needs. Through working with an Employment Advisor, Action Group not only ensured the individual sustained their role but also that they made strides towards improving understanding within their workplace.

Both colleagues and management have embraced training on TBI and neurodiversity, and collaboratively contributed to a disability passport, further empowering colleagues to identify warning signs, and knowing the right intervention strategies.

Three changes that could most improve the impact of this service for people:

  • More funding – to employ more employment advisors, reducing current caseloads and having more time to spend with each client
  • More understanding and support for employers to help them realise the potential in employing people with disabilities
  • More recognition and awareness of our service, who we can help, and what we can help with.

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4 December 2023

Comment: “Social care could be the gift that keeps on giving for Scotland. But only if the government rethinks its budget”

Marking the launch of our new Rethink To 13 campaign, Rachel Cackett argues that £12 p/h for staff is too low, is ethically wrong, and flies in the face of what Scotland need to enjoy equality, opportunity and community

On the 19th December, during the last week of 2023 for the Scottish Parliament, the government will publish its draft budget.

In unprecedented times, we are hoping for something a bit different from this budget.

For years now, there have been calls for the Scottish Government to be far more transparent in setting out how its draft budget is intended to match investment to its stated priorities. This is a primary task of government: To ensure that funds raised from the public are invested in the things the democratically elected government has told us are important.

And when things are tight, justifying the allocation of too few resources to those things that a government says matters most is more important than ever.

So, perhaps the government can do something different this year.

The first minister has stated that all funding decisions must deliver against three things:

  1. Equality, by tackling poverty and protecting people from harm during the cost-of-living crisis
  2. Opportunity through a fair, green and growing wellbeing economy that can support improved living standards, reduce poverty, and sustain high quality public services, and
  3. Community by prioritising public services – building sustainability and reducing inequality.

So, perhaps we can expect the budget to be structured to show clearly how decisions to invest – and disinvest – will deliver these.

Perhaps, for example, we will see a commitment to the funding of sustainable social care services that support families facing poverty or destitution in the current financial climate to stay afloat, to keep a home, to feed their families and keep children in school.

Or to services that support disabled people, or people with long term health conditions – who face a myriad of daily inequities – to maintain their right to independent living and stay well in their own homes.

Or to mental health services that help prevent adults and children reaching crisis – and stop yet more people waiting too long for NHS services that just aren’t there – so that they can live connected, engaged lives as participants in work, school, family and community.

Or to the availability of social care and support for everyone who needs it so that unpaid carers can maintain jobs that can keep their families afloat.

Or to those staff in our sector, overwhelmingly women, who provide care and support to some of the most vulnerable members of my family and yours – but are paid far less than those in the public sector to do equivalent jobs simply because the government doesn’t provide enough funds.

Staff who may often work – and spend their wages – in the communities they support. Staff who are often working part time to juggle their unpaid caring responsibilities.   Staff who desperately need equality, opportunity and community.

You see, social care and support – ever the Cinderella of public service investment – could be the FM’s answer this Christmas. It could be the gift that keeps on giving; the glue that binds his priorities to effective investment. But it’s only possible with a workforce to deliver it.

And there’s the issue.

Half the people who moved jobs in our sector last year left social care altogether. And the unethical approach to embedding pay inequity into public service delivery means staff continue to leave and social care isn’t always there when you, or I, or our loved ones need it.

The FM has already imposed a £12 p/h pay deal for social care and support staff in our sector next year and, sadly, we expect to see this confirmed in the draft Budget on 19 December. But this won’t help the government meet its own budget priorities; it will undermine them.

So, Scottish Government, rethink your budget.

Investing at the very least £13 p/h in 2024-25 for all social care staff in our sector is the absolute minimum that will cut it – and that only as a first step in a plan to reach parity in pay.

£12 is too low; it’s ethically wrong; and it flies in the face of what you’ve told us it matters to invest in and what many people in Scotland need to enjoy equality, opportunity and community.

Please. Rethink your budget.

#RethinkTo13

Find out more about the campaign here.

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29 June 2023

News: 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign launched to bring step change in social care

New CCPS campaign amplifies voices of sector and civic society, urging the Scottish Government to pledge to invest and give hope of equality

The Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland today launches a national campaign calling on the Scottish Government to deliver Fair Work for Scotland’s not-for-profit social care staff.

The campaign draws on evidence from CCPS’s membership organisations about the acute pressures currently being faced by their services as a result of the Scottish Government’s base pay rate for staff of £10.90, which is leading to staff leaving the workforce and many services being jeopardised.

The initiative aims to influence Scottish Government to take 4 Steps to Fair Work for social care staff and announce a timetable for investment. The 4 Steps are:

1. 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.

2. Ensure equal pay for equal work: Apply pay uplifts to staff in all services, not just those in registered adult social care.

3. Value all staff who play their part: Deliver funding packages that value the crucial role of support staff and managers, alongside frontline workers.

4. Give us hope of equality: Publish a timetable by this September to deliver fully on Fair Work in Social Care by 2025.

Launching the campaign, CCPS’s Chief Executive Rachel Cackett said:

“We may not always ‘see’ it, but social care and support is a fundamental; it touches all of us at points through our lives. But it mostly happens behind closed doors and is often obscured behind the big headlines about the crisis in the NHS.

“Social care needs to be championed in public for its crucial role in supporting people to realise their right to independence, their connections with the people and places that matter to them, their wellbeing, and their ability to participate in work, school and community.

“The Scottish Government needs to start talking about why social care matters – not just to keep the NHS on its feet, but to keep people on theirs. And it needs to articulate a plan for how it will invest in, and finally deliver, Fair Work.”

“This campaign is a first step on that journey and we hope everyone who cares about Fair Work will give it their support.”

Through the campaign CCPS’s members and wider civic society will alert the Scottish Government to why delivering on Fair Work is fundamental for the future of Scotland’s social care workforce.

Over the next three months, in the run-up to the Programme for Government and spending review, CCPS will be sharing voices, views and calls to action through the campaign.

Find out more about the campaign and take part.

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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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