 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 2777 in the name of Alex Rowley on long-standing underpayment of social care staff. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Alex Rowley to open the debate around seven minutes, please, Mr Rowley. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I want to begin by thanking those who signed my motion to make today's debate possible. I want to thank, in particular, Willie Rennie and Murdoff Fraser, who signed the motion to allow the debate to happen. I was surprised that the Greens refused to sign the motion, given that the treatment of workers described in the motion happens every day in every community up and down Scotland. Under the refusal of SNP members to sign, what is a factual statement just demonstrates the stick of your head in the sand and hope it fixes itself approach to what is a growing crisis impacting on older people across mid-Scotland and Fife, indeed across all of Scotland. However, let me be clear. I have not brought forward this debate to point blame at any political party far from it. What I am attempting to do is to say that unless we take action now to address the unequal and unfair treatment of care workers, then we will not fix the growing crisis in the provision of community care in Scotland. I say that it is a matter of fact, for it is a fact that care workers working on the poorest terms and conditions and the lowest pay are walking away from being carers and why would they stay when they are treated so poorly? When you look at the way some care workers are treated, is it any wonder that firms cannot recruit new staff and are losing the ones that they have? Some will say that there is a shortage of labour across many sectors and that Brexit has made the challenges even more difficult and this is true. Why then would you choose to work in a sector that is a very demanding job when that job has some of the worst terms and conditions in the entire labour market in Scotland? Last week, given evidence to MSPs on the audit committee on his report into social care, Scotland's auditor-general Stephen Boyle said improvements must be made urgently and he warned that some things cannot wait for the establishment of a national care service. The committee heard that there are, I quote, major problems with recruitment and retention in the social care sector and that existing staff do not feel valued or properly paid. I have talked with care workers who work an eight-hour shift and only get paid for five or six of those hours as they are not paid for the hours that they use to travel between clients. They tell me that they are working often 10 or 11 hours as they are on a split shift with two hours break in the day and even if their clients are miles from where they live then they just have to sit in their cars during those hours. They are giving a mileage allowance of 25p a mile for when they are travelling between clients, but they are not paid for their own time. 25p a mile when MSPs in this place have paid, I think, 48p a mile, as is the case with the majority public sector workers. The difference between council staff working as carers and that of private sector is astounding and cannot be allowed to continue. Council staff will be paid for the hours they work, not just the hours they are in a person's house, and they will get the same travel allowance as all public sector workers. How can it be that you have two sets of workers doing the very same job being paid by the public parts to deliver the same public services and yet they can be treated so differently? As Auditor General told MSPs last week, the predominantly female workforce does not feel adequately rewarded or valued. There are also major problems with recruitment and retention. The Scottish Government now needs to take action to improve working conditions for this vitally important workforce, according to the Auditor General, who said otherwise that it would not be possible to deliver its ambitions for social care. On Tuesday, the Government launched a consultation on what is currently working well and what needs to change in social care. The health secretary, Humza Yousaf, said that, I want Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow old with older people living full and rewarding lives, contributing to society and actively involved in their health and social care. I am here today because older people are getting their care packages cut. People in desperate need are not able to get a care package. The numbers trapped in hospital because they cannot get home because there is no care package to support them are increasing. The reason is that private companies who, through a procurement process, have been commissioned by the health and social care partnerships to deliver half an hour and our blocks of care say that they can only pay the staff for what they are being paid for, which is the commissioning of the blocks of care. As a result, the care workers end up being treated so poorly. That is the main point. Those workers may be being paid by private companies, but the money comes from the Government. The contract, the commissioning, is done through the Government's health and social care partnerships. By putting the work out to tender and through the commissioning regime, it is cheaper for the health and social care partnerships. Let me be clear that the practice that has resulted in an appalling treatment of care workers has, in the past, been practised by all political parties when in power. It is not about trying to blame one political party. It is about recognising that care on the cheap does not and will not work. I am well aware of the on-going debate about a national care service. I will, along with my party, fully engage in that debate, but I want to stress that, unless we deal with the poor terms and conditions and low pay of care workers now, the problems will just get worse and worse and older people will pay the price through their sufferings. Let us deal with this issue and deal with it now. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. I recognise Alec Rowley for securing it. Alec Rowley has outlined the complexity of the care system. My first job when I left school was in a care home before I started my nurse training. I know that that was a long time ago. I remember right then the complexity of the work that we were trained to do and being asked to do. From the outset, I want to be clear that our social care workforce here in Scotland is absolutely valued. They do crucial work every day, often in very challenging circumstances. The Covid-19 pandemic in particular has emphasised the need for our social care sector to be supported and valued. Social care means all types of personal and practical support for children, young people and adults who require it. It includes a wide range of roles, including home carers, care home staff, activity and care co-ordinators, care managers, social work assistants, children and young persons support workers, day centre staff, cleaners and care centres, admin support staff and many others. It is important to keep that in mind when discussing the sector. It is more complex than just one job, one role or one pay scale. Social care is an investment in Scotland's people, society and economy. Many of us or many of our family members and friends will already use social care and many of us will need to use social care at some point in our lives in the future. The social care sector in Scotland employs some 200,000 people and has an estimated financial value to Scotland's economy of £3.4 billion. The sector is hugely important and a lot of work is going on to improve the sector and the experience of its workforce. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting people to stay at home or in a homely setting, with maximum independence for as long as possible. It is crucial to attract and retain the right people to work in social care in the support and in social work, something that is not helped by the withdrawal from the EU, as Alex Rowley has stated. We need to raise the status of social care as a profession. We have discussed that in the health and sport committee, which I am a member of. The Scottish Government has embarked on a largest reform of adult social care in Scotland. Working with COSLA, the people with lived experience, unpaid carers and other stakeholders, the Scottish Government has developed the following priorities, which are being implemented when it comes to social care. Those are to establish a shared agreement on the purpose of adult social care support with a focus on human rights, social care support that is centred on a person and how they want to live their life and what is important to them, what matters to them is important, Presiding Officer. Changing the attitudes towards social care support so that it is seen as an investment in Scotland's people, that is absolutely valuable as well, and strengthening the quality and consistency of co-production at local and national level as well. Derek Feeley's independent review of adult social care was a crucial step towards the creation of the national care service for Scotland, and that will enable us to improve the experiences of everybody who works in and uses social care. The review was comprehensive and found many aspects of our adult social care system that are worthy of celebration, such as the introduction of self-directed support. The carers act is also important and the introduction of free personal care. With the aims that the Government has in mind, which also includes the principles of fair work, we need to welcome that the Scottish Government is taking issues forward, and I look forward to working further with the Health and Social Care Committee to look at what we can do. I look forward to hearing from the minister in his response, because I am conscious of the time. I thank Alex Rowley for bringing forward this important debate and for his considered contribution and his long-standing commitment to social care. Can I start my speech by thanking everyone in the social care system for all the work that they have done and all the work that they will go on to do? I also thank those unpaid carers, sometimes very young, sometimes much older, often family members who look after many in our communities. They are unsung heroes. We are all accustomed to paying tribute to the valuable work that is done by our NHS staff, but our care and support workers do not always get the public recognition that they deserve. However, there has never been a time when our front-line workforce has demonstrated such extraordinary dedication, compassion and selfless commitment. As Alex Rowley said, the Government urgently needs to address the social care crisis, and paying conditions are part of the solution to this crisis. The heroic staff are overwhelmed and care is still being provided on the cheap, as Alex Rowley said. Staff have gone above and beyond during the pandemic, but they have not been given the leadership or the appreciation that they deserve. People who require care services are suffering as a result. A report by Audit Scotland on social care, published in January, should act as a wake-up call. The report revealed the social care system, in which staff are not adequately valued, engaged or rewarded for their vitally important role. Audit Scotland reported that the average hourly rate across all care in Scotland is just £9.79 per hour. Let us also bear in mind that the new £10.50 rate will not apply to all of those who work in social care. Let us remember that 15 per cent of social care workers work unpaid overtime. 13 per cent of the workforce work over 50 hours a week. Two in ten are not on permanent contracts. The industry is undermined by long hours, low pay and recognition, which means that care providers struggle to find and keep staff. It cannot be right that supermarkets and shops often pay more and appear to offer a greater sense of career progression. This is wrong and it must change. Angers staff, when they are described as low-skilled, when in fact their roles are highly skilled and complex, have to understand medical needs, deliver medication and possess soft skills such as empathy and tact. We can see quite clearly that there are problems of recruitment difficulties, rising sickness absence and high vacancy levels. The SNP's solution to that, in part, is to develop a national care service. Far from being a positive step, that could be perceived as a direct assault on local government removing accountability and potentially undermining patient care. Instead of reorganising the chairs on the deck, ministers must now urgently and meaningfully engage with carers, staff and those who work in the sector, but also those who need support. Dr Dono MacAskill, chief executive of Scottish care, has warned that the industry is at risk of disintegration and collapse, so we simply cannot wait for a national care service. I accept that additional funding is being made available in 2024-25, Scotland will benefit from additional £1.1 billion as a result of the health and social care levy, but if the Government is really committed to ensuring that every person receives the care that they need to be provided with the dignity that they deserve, they must take urgent action to address the needs of the workforce, and that means to better workforce plan. We need to show people who show an exceptional level of personal commitment and accountability that they are valued in terms of pay and conditions. It is time to respect and reward those who work in social care, and to end, as Alex Rowley quite rightly said, providing care on the cheap. Staff are too often on the forgotten front line, and we vote to them to change this. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I begin by thanking my colleague Alex Rowley for securing this extremely important debate today and for his powerful speech outlining the issues? Can I pay tribute to all of our care workers in Scotland who work day in and day out to look after and care for older people, people who have disabilities and people with long-term life-limiting conditions? Their contribution is immense, and their work brings dignity, respect and, indeed, happiness to the lives of so many and their families. Caring is an essential service in our communities, but it is more than that, it is a vocation, a role that dedicated and compassionate people offer themselves to, and we know from the figures that those are predominantly women. Colleagues may not know this, but when I was a student, I worked in a care home, I was an activities organiser, means that, among other things, I can call a really mean bingo. It was an experience that taught me a lot about older people and the challenges of living with an illness like dementia. Although I played a small part in a wider team, it was nothing compared to the contribution of care staff. They taught me the most. I was always in awe of their dedication, their patience and the genuine care with which they supported people living in the home. Taking time to get to know them and their families, finding ways to brighten their days with stories and songs, peerlessly protecting their dignity and independence and sharing with families all the news and important moments that they may have missed during the day or week. In my job, prior to being elected here, I had the honour of helping to tell some of the most amazing stories, personal assistance that enables Scotland and the work that they did during the lockdown. Recreating Friday nights bent at the person that they cared for's favourite social club at home, arranging for local pipe bands to play outside people's homes, or linking people up with their loved ones via digital methods. They went above and beyond because they cared. But the respect for their work and the rates of pay never matched what they gave, despite the efforts of some employers, particularly in the third sector, and they still do it today, and Deputy Presiding Officer, that should shame us all. We must acknowledge the skilled and vocational nature of this work and pay people what they deserve as this motion calls for. I was very struck by the recent common wheel report highlighting the current failings in our care system and calling for ambitious reforms with the advent of the national care service in order to deliver the changes that we need. As I have said in the chamber many times, this has to be about values, not structures, and those values begin with our people, the people who deliver care across Scotland. We do not have to wait, but we can act now. Currently, if I have joined our trade unions, particularly my union, the GMB, in calling for a £15 minimum wage for care workers, we have advocated this through the last two budget processes, but that has been rejected in favour of a 40-ap rise. As we are serious about honouring what we said in the pandemic about the value of carers, calling them Covid heroes, that must be matched by our action. There is also more to do. Get a support for the wellbeing of care staff through breaks, fire food, rest areas and support services. More standardised qualifications can be accredited and recognised across the care system. Apprenticeships in care showing that it is a valued and important career choice for younger people. And clear our progression routes for workers that they can get on. Deputy Presiding Officer, it is clear that we owe all of our carers across the country a huge debt of gratitude. We trust them with the most precious thing in our lives, which is often our family members, but often in difficult and challenging circumstances. And as such, we should offer them a rate of pay and a set of conditions that meet the huge responsibility and reflect their talent and dedication. We, on these benches, will continue to urge the Government to act with offering our own vision of what care should be, Scotland. It was quite difficult to hear Mr O'Cain there. I picked up the bulk of what he said, but it was not easy. I wonder if we are hearing from Ms Mackay online if we could try and do something to boost the sound a little bit, please? Thank you, Minister, for your point of order. I did note myself that the sound was patchy. I am sure that the broadcasting unit has heard your plea, and I hope that they act on that. And let's try it out and see how we go with Julian Mackay. Julian Mackay, I see, is there and ready. And we'll be the last speaker in the open debate around four minutes, please, Ms Mackay. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'll try to use my outside voice just in case it's still quiet. Care workers perform an extremely challenging, complex and skilled role. They look after our loved ones often when they are unwell, vulnerable or coming to the ends of their lives, and I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to care workers for all that they do. The enormous contribution of care workers to our society has for too long gone unrecognised, however. They were classed as low-skilled by the UK Government, which we all know is simply not true. It was international women's day on Tuesday and the theme was break the bias. In light of this, as many others have, it's worth noting that, with women making up approximately 85 per cent of the workforce, failure to properly appreciate social care workers is linked to how we value caring roles that are traditionally performed by women. I was struck by the words of Fiona Collie from Carers UK when she recently gave evidence for the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I quote, We often talked about the important role that the national health service plays, but we talked less about the significant role that social care plays in maintaining people's independence and enabling them to live good and positive lives. The role of social care has been very hidden. It is right that social care has now become a national focus, and it is long overdue. The pandemic may have highlighted the undervaluation of care workers, but that has been a problem since long before any of us had heard of Covid-19. Care staff were often working in difficult conditions before the pandemic, with low pay, long hours and insecure work to contend with. For the past two years, they have also had to deal with a dangerous virus that has devastated care homes. A workforce survey conducted by Scottish Care published its interim findings in September. It found that the number of hours staff were working was markedly high, with increasing pressure on them to maintain the same quality of care while working longer hours. Almost 50 per cent of organisations relayed that their staff were working more than 35 hours a week. I am extremely concerned about the physical and mental wellbeing of care workers who have been under such sustained pressure. As we seek to help social care to recover from the pandemic, we must prioritise workplace wellbeing. Some care workers may have been traumatised by their experiences, and they must be able to access mental health support when they need it. As we enter the recovery period, we are also creating a new national care service, a cornerstone of which will be improved terms and conditions for staff. That is why the Greens and the Scottish Government have committed to deliver ethical commissioning that promotes fair work, and that is vital. The independent review of adult social care highlighted that the current approach to commissioning and procurement is characterised by mistrust, conflict and market forces. At the moment, commissioning and procurement processes are largely focused on cost, which can squeeze pay and conditions. Ethical commissioning would shift the emphasis from cost and include a range of factors, including workforce terms and conditions, and investment by providers in training and support for staff as well as the quality of care. We must ensure that staff can access the training that they need, as well as opportunities for career development and progression. That will be key to improving recruitment and retention. That is why we have also committed to a system of national collective bargaining through which we will deliver improved pay terms and conditions. The increase of the minimum wage for adult social care staff to 10.50 is an initial step in improving pay for care workers, but we recognise that the work is far from over and we will continue towards delivering pay, but it recognises the incredible work that care staff do. I will close, Deputy Presiding Officer, by once again extending my thanks to everyone working in the social care sector. We recognise that care workers' pay terms and conditions must continue to improve and we will continue to work towards this and create a national care service where staff are properly valued and respected. I now call on Minister Kevin Stewart to respond to the debate on behalf of the Scottish Government around seven minutes. Can I first of all thank Mr Rowley for his considered contribution today and the tone and tenor of what he outlined in the chamber? If we did that more often, we would do a lot better in this place. I thank Mr Rowley for that. I thank the social care workforce for its remarkable work, providing critical and invaluable support to people right across our country. A lot of attention has been paid to social care workers delivering care, but, like Emma Harper, I also thank and acknowledge the domestic cleaning maintenance and administration teams whose vital work keeps those critical services running. Indeed, I thank every member of the social care workforce, including two of my own nieces, who are social care workers. Although one is having a wee bit of time off in maternity leave, that is an important debate to bring to the chamber. I thank Mr Rowley for bringing it here and I thank everybody for their contributions. I would object to the fact that the Scottish Government does not value the social care workforce because we do. We are fully committed to improving pay and conditions for the predominantly female workforce. The social care system, as it stands at the moment, is complex, with more than 1,200 employers and a huge variation across Scotland, as acknowledged by Derek Feeley in his independent report. Despite that, we are taking action now with partners in local government to make improvements now. Since 2016, the Scottish Government has provided funding to ensure that adult social care workers delivering direct care were paid at least the real living wage. We have led the way across the UK in ensuring that those workers have this minimum rate of pay, with the Welsh Government following our lead by adopting this policy from April of this year. However, we are now going beyond that. In the last few months, we have committed to two significant increases in pay. A mid-year uplift that was delivered in December saw adult social care workers pay increase to at least £10.00 per hour, which was an increase of more than 5 per cent. In April, the minimum early rate for those providing adult social care will rise to £10.50 per hour, a further increase of 4.8 per cent. For a full-time adult social care worker, on the minimum rate, the increase to £10.50 per hour represents an uplift of more than £1,600 over the course of the next financial year. That £10.50 early rate in Scotland is 60p higher than the real living wage rate of £9.90 per hour that will apply to workers in Wales from April. Scotland's minimum rate is also significantly higher than the national living wage rate that is paid to many social care workers in England and Northern Ireland, with workers there receiving £1 an hour less than in Scotland. Of course, our minimum rates of pay in Mr Riley is right to point out that some folk are paid more. Sometimes there seems to be an unfairness in all that. We have heard from the Labour Party and others about proposals to increase pay to £15 per hour, but that would cost £1.75 billion. We have to have a discussion on how we can do better and be realistic about what is achievable, because we cannot spend money twice, and that is what some of the suggestions have been. I am more than willing to speak to Mr Riley and others on those points. We need to go further, but I think that we all have to grasp the reality that some of that we will have to work through and find the money, because we cannot spend that money twice. My door is open to Mr Riley and others with any credible ideas that they might have. I thank the minister for giving way and for his commitment to fair pay for the sector. Can the minister say what assessment the Government makes when changing pay rates within social care on the issue of differentials where it has an impact on other care home workers, where the Government may not reimburse particularly private sector providers for those increases that will then feed through the system? There is a huge complexity in all of that. Those two pay rises in recent times do not come without difficulties, because what we have to do in partnership with others is to make sure that the money that the Government has provided actually gets into the pockets and purses of the workers. With 1,200 different employers, that is not as easy as it sounds. Of course, the discussions that we have had with COSLA, local government, health and social care partnerships and others, including third sector and private sector employers, throws up other anomalies, which we have to work our way through. I have meetings in the very near future about what has happened here and what the impacts are on other sectors. We are looking at that too, but it is immensely complex as it stands at this moment in time. Mr Rowley was right to point out about the different procurement that goes on, some of which certainly did not happen when he and I were in local government. There has been too much emphasis on value for money rather than quality services for people, which includes paying staff well and ensuring that you have a workforce that has the freedom and autonomy to do what is right for the clients that they are visiting on a daily basis and caring for. That is why ethical procurement, as Gillian Mackay has mentioned, is so important as we move forward, because we have to get that absolutely right. Ethical procurement includes fair work. It is not just fair work, because caring is a profession, and we have to ensure that, in order to attract new people, young people to that profession, they can see the opportunity to advance in their careers. That is why it is so important that we have the right apprenticeships, the right ability to continuously improve and get the qualifications, and the ability to swap careers between social care, social work and the NHS if and when that is right. I am committed to doing all that. We must ensure that we build a social care system for the future with human rights at its very heart, with a person-centred approach, and we must include in all that fair pay and fair work for the people who work in it. That is why we will continue to engage with our national care service proposals to get that right. However, we cannot wait for national care service itself to make some of those improvements, and that is why I will continue to talk to COSLA, who I think has been very positive with the Government in looking at what more we can do. I will conclude, because the Government is absolutely committed to improving the experience of the workforce through fair work practices, because we deeply value and respect the vital role that social care workers play in our communities. Let us be honest, without them, over the past two years, life would have been very much different for many, many people. I applaud it to them, and my door is open to others to see how we can work together to improve further in this front.