11 February 2026

CCPS launches new budget campaign: Fund social care like it matters

We’re calling on the Scottish Government to reverse its budget decision which could create an estimated £19 million funding shortfall in the social care sector

VIDEO: ‘Fund social care like it matters’ 

The Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) is calling on the Scottish Government to reverse a decision made in this year’s budget which is estimated to create a funding shortfall of around £19 million across the social care sector. 

When the Scottish Budget was published on January 13, it was revealed that the government had unilaterally changed the way it funds pay for frontline staff in public sector-commissioned social care services. 

This means the sector is now expected to plug a funding gap of around £19 million out of its own pocket – and the money just isn’t there. 

Watch our short explainer on the budget’s funding shortfall. 

The government’s policy is for staff in commissioned services to receive at least the Real Living Wage (RLW), and it has – until now – ringfenced an annual pay fund in the budget which enables providers to meet costs as the RLW rises. 

Yet without any prior consultation with providers in CCPS’s membership, the Scottish Government changed the way it calculates the pay fund in this year’s budget.  

If this decision goes ahead, it will result in a funding gap which CCPS members have begun to estimate as increasing costs of between £30,000 and £740,000 for their different sized organisations over a single year. 

Social care providers are not supermarkets – they can’t simply raise prices to cover additional costs. And with rising financial pressures, providers are already being forced to scale back services and rely on reserves to reach financial balance. 

When people can’t access social care support, it impacts their health and wellbeing and adds strain to other public services, including the NHS. Yet with social care providers in an already perilous situation, the Scottish Government has decided to add further pressure.  

But it’s not too late for the government to change this.  

Before the final budget vote on February 25, it can reverse this decision and give social care the investment it needs to thrive.  

We’re asking the Scottish Government to: 

  • Fund social care like it matters 
  • Return the £19 million 
  • Recommit to Fair Work in social care 

All of this would help rebuild trust with care providers, and mean the government could take an important step towards delivering its commitment to prevention, taking pressure off the NHS, and supporting people all over Scotland to live life on their own terms

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21 January 2026

“We want to work constructively with government to help meet promises made to Scotland’s citizens. Stripping resources from social care providers isn’t how we do that” 

The decision to change how the amount of money invested in social care pay next year is calculated will mean even less funds for the frontline, writes Rachel Cackett 

Each time I think the social care sector cannot be more overlooked and undervalued by Scottish Government finance decisions, I am surprised.   

These are not the sort of surprises I welcome. 

What has been emerging from the shadows of the Scottish Budget over recent days, and is now in the public domain, is that the Scottish Government has made a decision, without reference to anyone, to change how it has calculated the amount of money it is investing in social care pay next year for organisations like those I represent – not for profits delivering public care and support services. And the result of this change would be less money to the frontline of social care and support.  

This seems to be a deeply cynical accounting move, hidden in all the budget papers, to strip resources from core providers outside of the public sector whilst claiming to meet a policy objective.

The organisations affected are already delivering essential taxpayer-funded public services to their communities with too little investment.   

I am dumbfounded.  

And, at first, I could not make sense of this move. 

First, the government, in not being upfront in this, has massively damaged trust with a sector it needs to rely on to keep the wheels on the bus now and support reform. My members are at their wits’ end, having heard this news after everything else they have been asked to endure. 

Second, we have privately spent the last year sharing information with the Scottish Government about how fragile our sector is. In real detail. Ministers cannot say they don’t know. So why insert this amount of additional risk into a sector that is already under unprecedented pressure for what we think is around £19m in 2026-27 – a tiny percentage of the overall Scottish Budget? 

Third, Shona Robison said in the chamber today (and I paraphrase) that the government has decided it will not fund commissioned social care providers to meet statutory obligations to pay the new national living wage. This is either a fundamental misunderstanding of how social care services delivering public services are funded or a terrible justification of a retrograde move. Of course employers have to cover their obligations but in commissioned services (and this under-the-radar policy change only applies to these) the costs of employment are part of a contract. What other money does the Cabinet Secretary think is available to CCPS members to cover the gap? They aren’t supermarkets able to pass on cost increases to consumers. The government has had a policy to fund at least the RLW in commissioned services and it seems to have just ripped that up.  

Fourth, public service reform and the management of current crises – such as the appalling situation for people whose hospital discharge is delayed – depends on social care to turn things around.  This re-profiling in the budget will further destabilise our sector, impacting jobs and pay yet more negatively – and putting even more pressure on the wider public sector and families who need to step into care. Why make worse those areas where the government is already under pressure for not delivering? 

Fifth, the Scottish Government has put child poverty and the economy at the heart of its priorities. This change – small for government in the context of the full Scottish Budget – will have massive repercussions for staff who are already underfunded by the government’s own pay policy. Over 80% of our workforce are women. Many will have families relying on them. These are not women paid high salaries to deliver care and support to families and individuals across Scotland. These are women who the government has insisted deserve no more than the Real Living Wage, as regulated and trained professionals, to deliver key support to vulnerable people. So where is the equality or economic impact assessment from the Scottish Government from this sleight of hand move behind the budget?

And then, I am left wondering: why would the government expect our sector to accept the rhetoric of “there is no money” when hundreds of millions of new funds have been announced for other parts of our public service system in recent months? 

We all know that social care is massively underfunded. Supported people and their families know; staff know; government knows. Even before we realised what had been done to the pay uplift, the Scottish Budget and spending review were woeful for our sector and came nowhere close to what is needed to address immediate risks and drive an efficient and effective reformed system that supports people to flourish. 

With a level of cynicism I do not like to hold, I have been left wondering whether, by focusing only on this change, we are at risk of deflecting a wider discussion about much-needed investment in social care that goes far beyond the re-profiling of the Real Living Wage uplift. So, I feel I should, on behalf of my members, be really clear. 

The calculations to underpin the Scottish Government’s own pay policy for commissioned care and support must revert to previous baselines to avoid compounding untenable risks for people. We understand that is around £19m for adult and children’s services. That has to be put back in the Scottish Budget as a fundamental. 

But reverting to the previous RLW calculation is not the saving grace for the sector. That puts us back to where we all thought we were starting from last week. 

Our calls for proper recovery of workforce costs in delivering public services – including reviewing the weightings in the government’s pay policy and addressing wider on-cost pressures – remain. As do our calls to move forwards, and fully fund, sectoral bargaining. And we need to see a spending review that will address long-term stability for our sector in the face of increasing unmet need. 

We want to work transparently and constructively with the Scottish Government – as we always have and strive to do. We need each other to turn around many of the pressures faced by individuals and families across Scotland; to meet promises made to Scotland’s citizens. 

But this isn’t how we do that. 

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28 October 2025

Urgent action on pay key to reforming social care

With a report published today on the impact of the Adult Social Care (ASC) Worker Uplift Policy, Rachel Cackett explains why it’s time for the Scottish Government to change course

We are standing at a pivotal moment for social care in Scotland. In recent years, policy decisions from austerity to Brexit, combined with external shocks including Covid-19, have placed immense pressure on our sector, and we now find ourselves at a tipping point. With the Scottish Government’s spending review and Budget approaching, the time for action is now.

There are clear paths to navigate our way out of this crisis, but for these to be realised, we need the government to show us it recognises the immense and wide-ranging benefits our sector brings to our society and our economy. A key part of this will be investing in the qualified, highly skilled and professionally regulated workforce who provide life-changing support in our communities every day – and whose pay is in the hands of the Scottish Government.

We need fair pay because our staff – who provide highly skilled support to disabled people, older people, people with learning disabilities, children, families and many others – deserve their invaluable contributions to be recognised. We also need fair pay because it makes social care a sustainable career choice, supporting the viability of our sector, and helping us better weather any future storms.

We know that the government has made public commitments to Fair Work. Its Adult Social Care (ASC) Worker Uplift Policy initially promised a real commitment to fair pay for social care professionals. But despite its good intentions, the policy has not kept pace with a shifting economic landscape and has also faced several unforeseen challenges in its implementation. We think the policy is no longer fit for purpose, and staff and the wider sector are feeling the strain.

That’s why my organisation, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS), is calling on the Scottish Government to urgently review this policy and revise its approach to social care pay immediately, before swiftly introducing sector-wide bargaining on pay. After conducting research on our members’ experience of this policy in action, we have today published a report on our findings, The Impact of the Scottish Government’s Adult Social Care Worker Uplift Policy. Click here to read the report.

Our message is clear: despite its best intentions, this policy is not working on the ground, and social care staff and the wider sector deserve better. We need the government to listen to our members and take urgent action to fulfil its promise of fair work and pay without delay.

Social care and support staff provide the scaffolding needed to help people live independent and fulfilled lives. They also provide preventative support which reduces costs for other public services, including the NHS – so by investing more in social care now, the Scottish Government cuts costs now and in the long run.

Despite this, pay policy is far from where it needs to be. The government’s policy has, since 2016, been to ensure that all ASC workers delivering direct care in commissioned services are paid at least the Real Living Wage. But this figure (currently £12.60/hour) is nowhere near enough to mitigate the staffing challenges our sector faces. ALDI pays its staff a minimum of £13/hour. On top of this, without funding to maintain proper pay differentials between staff of different grades – which our research shows is often not possible – social care will not be an attractive long-term career choice.

We welcome the government’s commitment to sectoral bargaining as its approach to social care pay and have been working collaboratively with them, alongside employers and trade unions. But this is simply taking too long; we need action now.

Investing in our people and making our sector better able to attract and retain staff will be hugely impactful when it comes to building strong, secure foundations for the rights-based, sustainable system of social care and support our country needs. And there is no time to lose. We know the Scottish Government has the appetite for reforming social care, and we as a sector are ready and willing to support them in realising their vision for fair work and pay.

We need tangible action now – for our staff, mostly women, doing invaluable work; for the one in 25 people who need social care each year in Scotland, as well as their friends, families and communities; and for the other public services such as the NHS whose work we support. The upcoming spending review and Budget offer a prime opportunity for action.

The government must urgently work with us to review its approach to social care pay – as part of the response to the viability of our sector. This will ensure our staff are paid fairly for the vital work they do and that providers can fully fund their workforce costs.  The future of our sector, and the government’s ambitions for reform, depends on it.

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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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