The Scottish Budget represents a cut to social care funding in Scotland, a concerning and disappointing reality for the people who access and work in social care

In both COSLA’s manifesto and pre-budget lobbying, the voice of Scottish local government, made a clear and urgent ask for significant additional investment of £750m to protect and strengthen social care. The Scottish Budget as it currently stands, fails to deliver on this. There is no dedicated, additional funding for social care, and the £160m allocated for paying the Real Living Wage to adult social care workers falls short of the estimated £175m cost of this policy commitment. This is not additional investment – it is underfunding of an existing promise.