Social Work Scotland response to Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s Employment Rights Bill consultation
9 May 2025
Introduction
Social Work Scotland is the professional body for social work leaders, working closely with our partners to shape policy and practice, and improve the quality and experience of social services. We welcome the opportunity to provide a response to the Employment Rights Bill Legislative Consent Memoranda, informing the scrutiny of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee.
Background
In respect of the general principles and objectives that the Legislative Consent Memoranda (LCM) are seeking to realise, we are supportive. Scotland’s recent progress in extending and embedding Fair Work must be acknowledged and commended, but in respect of social care, it cannot be seen as the end-destination, or the solution to a workforce crisis that imperils the care and support of hundreds of thousands of people. Levels of pay and conditions of employment will need to be improved (beyond real Living Wage levels) to ensure social care roles are not just competitive with those in other sectors, but to the extent they attract (and retain) people into the sector in greater numbers. The provisions of the Employment Rights Bill (“the Bill”) appear to provide mechanisms which could help achieve that, but without commitments from the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to significantly increase the resources available to local government (the providers and commissioners of social care) they will do little to improve the situation on the ground. Indeed if these changes lead only to higher costs for local government and individuals, the impact on the ground will be negative.
We also note that the provisions in the Bill, to which the LCM relate, leave Scottish Ministers with the responsibility for setting the parameters of, for example, the Social Care Negotiating Body’s scope. Without clarity on Scottish Minister’s intentions it is difficult to assess the impact of the proposals. Decisions about which social care “sectors” are in scope will make a big difference to both costs and the complexity of implementation.
