Pay rise for front-line staff at ELCAP

ELCAP has announced pay rises for its dedicated team of Support Practitioners.

The increases re-affirm the charity’s commitment to be a local leader in providing fair terms and conditions of employment for all staff.

Qualified Support Practitioners – colleagues with an SVQ 2 in Health and Social Care – now receive £11.05 per hour, an increase of 4.7% on the previous rate.  The rate for unqualified Support Practitioners rises from £9.55 to £10.05 per hour, while the sleepover rate has increased by £0.52 to £10.02 per hour.

The new rates have been backdated to 1 December 2021.

The pay increases have been enabled by investment from the Scottish Government, which is committed to increasing minimum pay rates for adult social care staff.

Commenting on the increase in hourly rates, ELCAP Chief Executive, Paul White, said:

“Our Support Practitioners assist individuals with all aspects of daily living, enabling them to do the things that matter to them and achieve their full potential.

While we’d always like to do more for our front-line staff, the commitment of the Scottish Government – via our partners at East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership and Midlothian Council – has allowed us to take another step in the right direction.

Our mission is to become the recognised gold standard in social care by empowering the individuals we support, our staff and our community to grow and succeed.  It is only right that we recognise the efforts of our colleagues to improve lives and make our organisation best in class.”

ELCAP is an accredited Living Wage Employer.  In November 2021, the Real Living Wage was increased to £9.90 per hour.

In 2021, ELCAP launched a new Workforce Development Plan, which included a commitment to offering a benefits package which is among the best available to social care staff in East Lothian and Midlothian.

In 2020, ELCAP achieved Platinum status against the Investors in People (IIP) standard.  This is the highest level of IIP accreditation.