Where’s our £500? Care workers’ fury at broken promise

THOUSANDS of frontline care workers are still waiting for the £500 ‘thank you’ promised by Nicola Sturgeon last year.

The First Minister’s gift to health and social care workers who have worked ‘heroically’ throughout the pandemic was her headline announcement at the SNP’s autumn conference in November.

But while NHS employees have received the bonus, thousands of ‘low-paid’ local authority staff are still waiting for their money.

Johanna Baxter of public sector union Unison said: ‘The delay is deeply disappointing and a slap in the face to those who have worked tirelessly on the front line.

‘These are predominantly lowpaid, women workers who have received no acknowledgment of their extraordinary efforts.

‘It is yet another example of local government workers being treated like the poor relations of the public sector by the SNP.’

She added: ‘When Unison have raised concerns about this delay with [council umbrella body] Cosla, we have been told they have been waiting on confirmation from the Scottish Government that they will underwrite any liabilities associated with making this payment.

‘We understand they have now received that confirmation so there should be no further delay.’

Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘This simply isn’t good enough.

‘Not only did Nicola Sturgeon’s attempt to play politics with this announcement backfire, but now the Government aren’t showing

nearly enough urgency in delivering the payment to workers.’

Scottish Labour local government spokesman Pauline McNeill added: ‘It is deeply disappointing.

‘Talk is cheap − these workers deserve their money.’

The Government estimated that 391,000 workers would benefit from the £500 ‘thank you’.

Those working part-time would receive a proportional amount.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Cosla said: ‘We are working proactively with the Scottish Government to put in place the practical processes for the implementation of their policy.’

The Scottish Government insisted there had been no delay. A spokesman said: ‘This claim is wrong – we are on track for payments to be made to local authorities from the end of March, as scheduled. This timeline was set out in December.’