INCREASING PAY FOR CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE STAFF

Staff in children's social care services will see their pay increase to at least £12 an hour thanks to new Scottish Government funding.

Backed by over £19 million this year, it will ensure more than 6,000 people working in a direct care role in the voluntary, private and independent sector services receive the pay increase, which could be worth more than £2,000 a year for some staff.

It will help people providing direct care to vulnerable children and young people under the age of 18, including Personal Assistants, and all payments will be backdated and provided for all hours worked from April 2024.

Increasing pay for children’s social care workers was a commitment set out in the 2023 Programme for Government.

Increasing pay for children’s social care staff

New Scottish Government funding will see pay for staff in children’s social care services increase to at least £12 per hour.

SNP MSP for Renfrewshire North and West and Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Natalie Don, said:

“This uplift is an important step forward in supporting our highly valued social care staff across Scotland. 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 implementation of this uplift would not have been possible without close working with our partners especially with COSLA and with Health and Social Care Partnerships.”