Information from the Scottish Trades Union Congress’ ‘Missing Millions’ campaign has shown that £38 million of ringfenced funding for maternity, paternity and sick pay for social care workers in Scotland was secretly cut from the latest Scottish Government budget.
Workers protested outside the Scottish Parliament to demand the return of the cash, accusing the Scottish Government of “betraying” social care workers. ATUC delegate Paul King was amongst those protesting and features in this STUC video.
The ‘Missing Millions’ campaign was launched last week during STUC Congress. A Freedom of Information request has shown that the £38 million cut was pulled directly from the Scottish Government’s Fair Work in Social Care terms and conditions workstream in September 2023.
Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said, “Cutting the budget to improve the terms, pay and conditions of Scotland’s social care workers is, quite frankly, unforgiveable. This was a sleekit move from the Scottish Government with no transparency, no accountability and worse, no promise of restoring the funding.
“These are the front-line workers that cared for those most in need during the pandemic. Some even paid with their lives protecting the vulnerable and our communities from the virus.
“For the Scottish Government to cut the dedicated funding that would, in part, seek to implement Fair Work within the sector, with improved sick pay and conditions, is nothing short of betraying the workforce.
“We’re sending a clear message to all politicians, especially the Scottish Government, that social care workers are demanding a return of the missing millions and a quick U-turn to this ill-judged budget cut."