Social care staff are set to see their pay increase to at least £12 an hour thanks to £19m of Scottish Government funding this year.
More than 6,000 people providing direct care within commissioned children’s social care services across the private, voluntary and independent sectors will be eligible — the uplift is expected to be worth over £2,000 a year for some of those staff.
“This uplift is an important step forward in supporting our highly valued social care staff across Scotland,” said the country’s minister for children, young people and the promise, Natalie Don.
She added: “The support they provide is invaluable and the Government is committed to ensuring no-one is paid less than the Real Living Wage.
“Children’s social care services couldn’t be delivered without our private, voluntary and independent sector providers and this funding will help support the sustainability of their services.”
The Scottish Government has also confirmed that all payments will be backdated from April 2024.
The uplift was achieved with the help of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the country’s health and social care partnerships.
“The children's social care workforce are vital in supporting our children and young people,” said a COSLA spokesperson.
“Paying them the real living wage is one way in which we can show how highly they are valued, and we will continue to work with our private, voluntary and independent sector providers on how we best support and Keep the Promise made to Scotland's children and young people.”
Scotland’s 2023/24 Programme for Government set the target of increasing social care staff wages across the private, voluntary and independent sectors.
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