Adult Social Care Pay Uplift – Guidance for the Personal Assistants Workforce

What does this guidance relate to?

An increase in Self-Directed Support (SDS) Option 1 Budgets will take place which will
allow for a pay uplift for the Personal Assistant workforce.

There will also be an uplift to Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF Scotland)
budgets from April to allow for a pay uplift for Personal Assistants.

 

Why is the Scottish Government providing this funding?

On 13 January 2026, the First Minister announced a pay uplift for adult social care
workers as part of the Scottish Budget for 2026-27.

This funding will ensure the minimum hourly rate for workers providing direct adult
social care, including Personal Assistants, will rise from at least £12.60 to at least
£13.45 per hour.

 

Who does it apply to?

This uplift is for directly paid Personal Assistants (PAs) providing assistance for adults
who are individuals with assessed needs.

The Personal Assistant workforce receives their payment for the vital support they
provide to enable the adult to live independently. A PA is eligible for this uplift if they
are directly paid by the social care support recipient or the person who is acting for a
social care support recipient, who receives funds to pay PAs from Independent Living
Fund Scotland or from a Local Authority or Health and Social Care Partnership through
Option 1 Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.

 

How should it be spent?

This funding is to be spent to uplift the pay of Personal Assistants and associated
workforce costs.

This funding will enable pay for these workers to be uplifted from at least £12.60 per
hour to at least £13.45 per hour

 

How will the uplift be applied to SDS Option 1 budgets?

The national weightings for the £13.45 per hour uplift will be the same as those used
for the uplift to £12.60 per hour. For the Personal Assistant workforce this will mean:

A 6.75% uplift will be applied to 90% of SDS Option 1 budgets
This equates to contract uplifts of 6.08%.

This policy, to uplift the minimum rate of pay from at least £12.60 per hour to at least
£13.45 per hour for PAs, provides funding for wages and on-costs within PA employers
contracts.

 

When will the uplift be applied from?
This funding will take effect from April 2026. Local
commissioning teams have confirmed that they expect most payments to be made
across April and May.

 

How and when will the uplift be applied to ILF Scotland budgets?

Due to the nature of the ILF Scotland award structure, an uplift of 6.75% of the PA
hourly rate of pay will be applied automatically from 1 April 2026.