11 February 2026
by Niall Christie
CCPS warns of estimated £19million funding shortfall identified in budget.
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 projected to create a shortfall of around £19m across the social care sector.
After the Scottish Budget was published on January 13, it was found that the government had unilaterally changed the way it funds pay for frontline staff in public sector-commissioned social care services.
The government’s policy has been for staff in these 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 calculated the pay fund in this year’s budget. If this change goes ahead, providers across Scotland will be expected to fund an additional cost of around £19 million out of their own pockets – if they are to meet the conditions of their public sector contracts to pay the RLW.
CCPS members are calculating what this decision will mean for their different sized organisations in a single year, with estimates to date ranging from £30,000 to £740,000. This comes as these organisations are being forced to scale back services and rely on reserves to reach financial balance after years of underinvestment has put their viability at risk.
As the Budget Bill passes through parliament – with a final vote scheduled for February 25 – CCPS is demanding the return of the approximately £19m and urging the government to commit to long-term fair funding for the sector and fair work for its staff.
Rachel Cackett, CEO of CCPS in Scotland, said: “£19m is a small percentage of the government’s budget, yet its withdrawal will have a huge impact on our sector. This decision to save a marginal sum risks support for the most marginalised people in Scotland, and those who work with them.
“The Real Living Wage is already too low a level of pay for social care’s highly skilled, highly trained and professionally regulated workforce, and our sector has been underinvested in for decades.
“The Scottish Government knows the social care sector is in serious jeopardy, yet it has made this decision – with a total lack of transparency – to heap further pressure on providers.
“The government must plug this funding gap immediately by returning the estimated £19 million – but this alone will not fix the crisis in our sector. It is time for the government to recommit to fair work in our sector by raising the baseline of pay for staff and to fund social care like it matters.”
The above information is from a Third Force News (TFN) website Government told to “fund social care like it matters” - TFN