A report by Sara Mahmoud, Christine Berry, and Mike Lewis which examines how the ownership structure of care providers impacts on quality of care and employee job quality. The report finds Scotland’s large private social care providers are associated with lower wages, more complaints about care quality, and higher levels of rent extraction than public and third sector care providers. The report argues that rather than remain ‘ownership neutral’ as the Scottish Government’s current proposals do, a truly transformative National Care Service must be based on a not-for-profit public service, delivered through local authorities with an ongoing role for the voluntary sector.
June 2022
This report examines social care and early learning and childcare (ELC) in Scotland. It looks at recruitment and retention issues in these female-dominated, undervalued sectors and considers the implications of current trends, forecasts and policy commitments. It concludes that a perfect storm of existing staffing issues, an ageing population, Scottish Government policy commitments, Brexit, automation, and historic and ongoing equal pay discrimination is likely to lead to further staffing issues and increasing industrial unrest. The report recommends that alongside increased investment, sectoral bargaining structures are put in place to ensure that future changes are brought about in partnership with workers, employers and the Scottish Government.
April 2019
On the 29th of February 2024, the Scottish Government led debate on Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill.
April 2024
The Scottish Government carried out a series of engagements with stakeholders during the co-design period of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill
April 2024
Despite extensive international and Scottish literature linking financialised and privatised care with poor outcomes and excess profit extraction, the Scottish Government’s recently withdrawn National Care Service Bill did not propose any change to who provides care. Neither has the Scottish Government brought forward reforms to address these issues since it withdrew the NCS Bill. Using data from the Care Inspectorate, this report analyses complaints into older people’s care homes in the private, voluntary and public sector over the last three years.
March 2025
This report uses Care Inspectorate data to examine differences in staffing resources across private, voluntary and public sector care homes for older people. It finds that staffing resources in older people’s care homes are 20% lower in the private sector compared to the not-for-profit (public and voluntary) sector.
March 2025
In 2024 there were an estimated 64,000 residential care workers in Scotland. For these workers and others in social care, the Scottish Government have sought to increase pay in line with the real living wage since 2016. Using data from the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earning, this report analyses the impact of this policy on residential care employees in Scotland in the last five years.
March 2025
On 9th August 2021, the Scottish government published a consultation containing detailed proposals to improve the delivery of social care in Scotland.
April 2024
Scotland’s adult social care workforce makes up approximately 8% of all Scottish employment or one in 13 jobs. Yet this low-paid, predominantly female workforce is increasingly undervalued. This report shows that, in recent years, pay has fallen, staff turnover has increased, and the workforce has shrunk.
April 2023
