ALLIANCE 2026-27 Scottish Budget briefing calls for action on third sector funding

This budget must put the third sector on a sustainable footing, and deliver on the Government's pledge to abolish social care charges.

Ahead of the Scottish Parliament’s Stage 1 debate on the 2026-27 Scottish Budget, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) have issued a briefing to MSPs setting out our key priorities for this budget and views on the wider process. The ALLIANCE remain extremely concerned about the crisis facing the third sector, with our ‘Stretched Beyond Limit‘ report finding that almost two-thirds (64%) of our organisational members feel financially insecure. In addition, 60% reported cuts to their core grants, and 25% to contract funding.

We urge MSPs to press the Scottish Government to use this budget to deliver:

• Fair funding for the third sector, to avoid further negative impacts on people and communities
• Continued investment in social security, in particular ensuring disability and unpaid carer payments are adequate
• Further progress social care reform, including the abolition of non-residential care charges, to support peoples’ rights to health and independent living
• Improved budget transparency through a human rights budgeting approach and clearer tagging of spending
• Re-commitment to the Wellbeing Economy approach, measuring the quality of public services and people’s lives, not simply GDP.

ALLIANCE Chief Officer, Sara Redmond, said:

“The ALLIANCE urges the final budget before the election to set the scene for progress to improve people’s health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities in the next parliament. We welcome the current Scottish Government’s commitment to developing a formal agreement with the third sector following the election, yet urgent action is necessary to address the crisis facing the sector. If Government is serious about this pledge, this budget is an opportunity to put Scotland’s third sector, and the essential services and jobs it supports, on a more sustainable footing.

The Scottish Government must deliver on their pledge to abolish non-residential social care charges in this term, ending the injustice of paying people disability payments only to reclaim them through care charges. This is an essential first step towards substantial reform that improves the quality of and access to services, and offers better pay and conditions for the workforce.

It is also more important than ever that a human rights budgeting approach is embedded throughout budget allocation and expenditure. Repeated in-year budget revisions have disproportionately impacted disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers, whilst making it difficult to compare budgets from year-to-year and see if investment is translating to better outcomes.”

You can read the full briefing via the resource links below.

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