Kate Forbes backs £15-per-hour minimum wage raise for carers
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SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes aims to raise the minimum wage for carers to £15-an-hour as part of changes to make social care a more rewarding career if she is elected.
During a visit to Highland Home Carers in Inverness, which has its own national care training academy, Ms Forbes also said she wanted to create learning pathways for carers to train as nurses through an apprenticeship model combining work with study.
The finance secretary added that she wants to see a national care service that is “focused on recruiting, retaining and remunerating carers better”.
Kate Forbes said: “I fully support the establishment of a national care service which removes the postcode lottery in care.
“However, any service must have the confidence of trade unions, local government and the Scottish Parliament. As such, the national care service should be focused on recruiting, retaining and remunerating carers better.
“We need to avoid resources getting sucked into additional bureaucracy. The main objective is to ensure there is a universal standard of care across Scotland and it is sufficiently integrated to rapidly reduce delayed discharge.”
Ms Forbes continued: “I would propose a plan to raise minimum pay to £15 per hour for carers within a timescale to be negotiated with the care sector and the unions, and to other changes necessary to make social care a more worthwhile and rewarding career.
“I would also plan to create a learning pathway for carers to train as nurses through an apprenticeship model that combines work with study.
“Lastly, I want to protect a decentralised approach to delivery that allows for local variations, particularly in remote and rural parts of Scotland – like in my own constituency.”
