Falkirk social care charity invests £3 million to boost workers' pay

The organisation, which has works in the Falkirk area, helps adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health conditions, autism and complex care so they can play a full part in their local community.

Community Integrate Care’s £3 million investment means its workforce will see the charity pay more than both the Government’s National Living Wage and the voluntary real Living Wage as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation.

This means a front line support worker in Scotland, working 40 hours per week, will now receive a boost of an extra £1667 per year.

Community Integrated Cares hope the rise will help alleviate some of the worry facing its workforce as the UK faces a looming cost-of-living crisis, with the price of goods, energy and household bills continuing to climb and inflation at a 30-year high.

Mark Adams, Community Integrated Care chief executive officer, said: “As the social care sector continues its battle with low pay and skills shortages, our charity is

proud to be in a position where we can go some way in fulfilling our commitment to valuing and rewarding our colleagues fairly for the outstanding work they do.

"But we know that for many providers, this is an impossibility, tightly bound by the Government’s funding constraints and a recruitment crisis that is buckling our sector.

“We urgently need action from central government, including sustainable funding and an effective workforce strategy, to address the significant challenges social care is facing.

"In the meantime, our charity will continue to campaign for real change, so that these rates become the norm and not the exception in our sector.”

The charity’s chief people officer Teresa Exelby added: “Throughout the most testing two years in recent history, our caring and committed colleagues have continued

to provide life-enhancing support to thousands of people in our local communities.

"While we know there’s no quick fix to these issues, we hope this £3 million investment goes some small way in making daily life easier for our teams.”

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