SDS Forth Valley has received the following correspondence from the Director of Social Care and National Care Service Development at the Scottish Government :-
Following agreement at COSLA Leaders on 26th January 2024 it is confirmed that the initial details of the pay uplift for adult social care workers that was announced on
19 December 2023 by the Deputy First Minister as part of the Scottish Budget for 2024/25.
This guidance has been designed in conjunction with a number of external stakeholders and I hope it is useful in clarifying how the uplift applies to the Personal Assistant workforce.
What does this guidance relate to?
An increase in Self-Directed Support (SDS) Option 1 Budgets will take place which will allow for a pay uplift for the Personal Assistant workforce. There will also be an uplift to Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF Scotland) budgets from April to allow for a pay uplift for Personal Assistants.
Why is the Scottish Government providing this funding?
On 19th December 2023, the Deputy First Minister announced a pay uplift for adult social care workers as part of the Scottish Budget for 2024/24. This funding will ensure the minimum hourly rate for workers providing direct adult social care, including Personal Assistants, will rise from at least £10.90 to at least £12 per hour.
Who does it apply to?
This uplift is for directly paid Personal Assistants (PAs) providing assistance for adults who are individuals with assessed needs. The Personal Assistant workforce receives their payment for the vital support they provide to enable the adult to live independently. A PA is eligible for this uplift if they are directly paid by the social care support recipient or the person who is acting for a
social care support recipient, who receives funds to pay PAs from Independent Living Fund Scotland or from a Local Authority or Health and Social Care Partnership through Option 1 Social Care (Self Directed Support) Act 2013.
How should it be spent?
This funding is to be spent to uplift the pay of Personal Assistants and associated workforce costs including National Insurance and pension contribution on-costs. This funding will enable pay for these workers to be uplifted from at least £10.90 per hour to at least £12 per hour. Where PAs are already paid more than £12 per hour, this funding should be used to increase pay above these levels. All funding should be spent on uplifting pay. Local Authorities and ILF Scotland will write to PA employers to advise them of these changes and to inform them of the purpose of this uplift.
How will the uplift be applied to SDS Option 1 budgets?
The national weightings for the £12 uplift will be the same as those used for the uplift to £10.90. For the Personal Assistant workforce this will mean:
• Personal Assistants – uplift applied to 90% of SDS option 1 budgets. This equates to contract uplifts of 9.08%. This policy, to uplift the minimum rate of pay from at least £10.90 per hour to at least £12 per hour for PA’s, provides funding for wages and on-costs within PA employers contracts. This does not prevent local areas or ILF Scotland from offering any increases to PA
employers on the non-workforce costs within their contracts. Any change to existing contracts – to address other increasing and inflationary non-workforce costs – would be out with the remit of this policy. They would form part of the normal negotiating process agreed with your local social work team or ILF Scotland directly.
When will the uplift be applied from?
This funding will take effect from April 2024. Local Government and Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) will be working at pace to deliver this, and local commissioning teams have confirmed that they expect most payments to be made across April and May.
How and when will the uplift be applied to ILF Scotland budgets?
Due to the nature of the ILF Scotland award structure, an uplift of 9.08% of the PA hourly rate of pay will be applied automatically from April 2024. All other eligible employer on costs will also be increased automatically within uplifted awards. ILF Scotland will write to all of their fund recipients who directly employ PAs to inform them of the detail of their increased award.
ILF Scotland will not automatically apply an uplift for services purchased by their recipients from care provider organisations. In line with normal practice, providers should inform their ILF Scotland funded customers of any planned increases to the rates they charge, and these will be dealt with on a case by case basis by ILF Scotland.
What assurance processes will be in place around the uplift?
For this uplift, Local Authorities and ILF Scotland will follow their own assurance processes related to PA employers funding. These will be in line with previous practices.
What should a PA employer do if they haven’t received this uplift?
PA employers should contact their Local Authority or ILF Scotland.
Should you wish to seek clarification on any of the above please contact us. We will be in touch with the HSCPs within the Forth Valley area and hopefully will be informed as to when they will be sending out the uplift letters.