Budget: Is Kate Forbes' carers pay rise a reward or an insult?

The increase from £10.02 per hour to £10.50 per hour was hailed by the SNP as progressive.

However, it has been labelled as an insult to workers and inadequate to attract the numbers of people needed to staff the sector.

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Forbes said the budget had three key aims, to tackle child poverty, enable a just transition to a green economy and accelerate Covid recovery.

Forbes said the pay rise and the doubling of the Scottish Child Payment to £20 a week in April next year was evidence of tackling inequality and child poverty.

She said the budget provided £197 million to double the Scottish Child Payment from April 2022, and extend it to under 16’s by the end of 2022, to lift an estimated 40,000 children out of poverty in 2023-2024.

The pay rise set a public sector wage floor of £10.50 per hour from April 2022. It includes additional for Local Government to ensure this applies to adult social care workers in commissioned services.

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She also confirmed the extension of free bus travel to young people under 22.

The child payment increase was welcomed by anti-poverty campaigners but the pay rise was deemed insufficient by opposition MSPs.

Forbes said: “The 2022-2023 Budget addresses our key priorities, targets resources for low income households and paves the way for future investment over the life of this Parliament. It is a budget of choices.

“This Budget focuses on tackling the climate emergency, reducing inequalities and supporting economic recovery.”

Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader, said: “We applauded them. We thanked them. We promised to reward them. “Care workers were on the frontline of the pandemic and made huge sacrifices.

“Today’s SNP/Green budget says they are only worth an additional 48p. They deserve better.”

Labour finance Spokesman, Daniel Johnson, said: “A 50p per hour pay rise is an insult to those hard working workers.”

There was a pay rise for other public sector workers of a £775 per year uplift for those earning up to £25,000, a £700 uplift for those earning between £25,000 and £40,000, and a cap of £500 on increases for those earning over £40,000.

The Lib Dem Leader, Alex Cole Hamilton, said it was a real terms pay cut for teachers and nurses.

Forbes said the care staff rise was higher than the UK minimum wage and living wage.

And she said the wider public sector pay policy was “progressive, fair and focuses on the low paid”.

She added: “It is the second pay rise in several months because we value the important work our carers do.

“I would say to them, we couldn’t have got through the pandemic without you and we are matching our rhetoric with a commitment in this budget.”

Campaigners who had called for the Child Payment rise welcomed it and said it had to be a base for further action.

Peter Kelly, Director, Poverty Alliance, said: “Doubling the Scottish Child Payment from April, as we and so many others across Scotland campaigned hard for, will help stem the rising tide of poverty across the country. Introducing free bus travel for young people under 22 is also a positive step toward a transport system that can tackle inequality.

“But with over one million people in Scotland living in the grip of poverty, it is clear that we cannot let up.

“In 2022 we must see these actions built upon, with further steps taken to build a Scottish social security system that unlocks people from poverty.

“We must also go further in redesigning our public services, like by extending free bus travel available to all under 25s and to everyone on low incomes.”