SOCIAL care staff deserve to be paid at least £15 per hour, Labour said last night ahead of a debate on the Scottish Budget this week.

The party’s interim leader, Jackie Baillie, will lead tomorrow’s calls for higher wages for social care workers in this year’s Budget, claiming that the workforce has been “undervalued and underpaid” for too long.

A survey by GMB, which initiated the £15-an-hour campaign, found that 98 per cent of social care workers felt they were not paid properly for the work they do.

The research also found that over half felt undervalued by the government, and over a quarter stated that their current wage was not enough to make ends meet.

Ms Baillie said: “That many private care providers continue to register eye-watering profits while their employees struggle to survive on low pay is something that should shame us as a nation.

“If our care system is failing to look after the very people who provide the care service, something must be badly wrong.”

The Greens have also reiterated calls for the Scottish government’s Budget to do more to tackle rising poverty, following warnings from Holyrood’s finance committee. 

In its Budget report, the group said that a fair economic recovery from Covid-19 would “require proactive measures to reduce wealth and income inequality.” 

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “The recovery from Covid-19 [must avoid a] return to the broken system that left too many Scots on poor wages with insecure jobs.”

The calls follow a joint letter from unions to Scottish council leaders calling for action on workers’ pay.  

Unison, Unite and GMB have said that workers have gone “above and beyond” during the pandemic and deserve a decent pay increase, delivered by councils.