GMB Scotland Media Statement: National Care Service

£15 Minimum Wage Must Be Priority Ahead Of Government Update On National Care Service

Ahead of an expected Scottish Government update tomorrow (Tuesday 22 February) on the delivery of National Care Service (NCS) for Scotland, following a Scottish government consultation exercise last year, GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said:

“Pay must be the priority now, not in 2026, to ease the unsustainable professional and personal pressures on Scotland’s hard-pressed social care workforce.

“For GMB that means a £15 an hour minimum for carers and appropriate increases for associated occupations, a minimum of £10.50 for carers will not go far enough to help retain existing staff in the face of soaring inflation and energy bills.

“It should be the foundation stone in the transformation of workers’ rights after a wretched two years in the grip of COVID-19 and years of chronic low-pay and exploitative conditions - we’ll achieve a fairer social care sector more quickly if people are paid better.

“And it will also help recruit a new generation of workers who will see care as an attractive and sustainable career option, and on a scale that will start to tackle the industry’s significant understaffing crisis.

“That’s the challenge GMB members in social care are making to the government and employers, whether they are local authorities or private residential care providers, while the debate continues over the ownership, regulation, and delivery of the future NCS.”

ENDS

Contact: GMB Scotland Communications on 07976 447077.