Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2026 [Draft]
04 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Social Care Workers
The problem is that the crisis has been coming for a long time. For too long, the Government took it for granted that social care workers would work for a lower wage than those who work in the national health service. As a result, those workers are now leaving and we do not have the support that we need.
We will not be able to fix the NHS without fixing social care. We have already seen long waits at accident and emergency departments as a result of the lack of flow through hospitals. When will the Government step up with more measures to make a real difference, because we will not fix the NHS otherwise?
In the same item of business
2. Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on tackling the reported critical shortage of social care workers. (S6O-05588)
The Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing (Tom Arthur)
SNP
The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of actions to address the social care workforce shortage, including investing more than £1.1 billion annual...
Alex Rowley
Lab
I hope that the minister agrees that we need to create a proper career structure for care workers across Scotland to make it attractive for people in Scotlan...
Tom Arthur
SNP
I thank Mr Rowley for his question and his tone. As always, he approaches these matters in a thoughtful, considered and constructive way.We recognise that ne...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
There is a chronic shortage of care staff in many rural and island communities. For example, Montrose house on Arran has 15 staff—that is around 30 per cent ...
Tom Arthur
SNP
I recognise that Mr Gibson holds a particular constituency interest in the impact of the UK Government’s decisions. As I touched on in my previous responses,...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Colleges report that they have had to turn away qualified applicants from social care courses due to a lack of Scottish Government funding. At Ayrshire Colle...
Tom Arthur
SNP
It is important that we have a coherent and joined-up approach. I hope that the member recognises that the budget that the Parliament has agreed to—without t...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
The problem is that the crisis has been coming for a long time. For too long, the Government took it for granted that social care workers would work for a lo...
Tom Arthur
SNP
I recognise the constructive approach that the Liberal Democrats took to engagement with the Scottish Government during the budget process with regard to soc...
Foysol Choudhury (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
What assessment has the Scottish Government made of the impact that social care package reductions will have on unpaid carers, in light of concerns from Care...
Tom Arthur
SNP
I recognise the significant contribution that unpaid carers make. There are an estimated 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland. If we sought to quantify their co...