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Nicola Sturgeon announced 500 quid to be paid to all scottish nhs staff and health care workers as a thank you for work during covid.
Absolutely fantastic to hear that, and thoroughly deserved.
With a nice little dig asking Johnson to make sure its not taxed as she does not have the power 🙂
Brilliant speech from what I read. I particularly liked this bit
I’ve done my best to get these decisions as right as I can.
And I’ve had the support of an outstanding team of ministers and advisers.
I can never thank them enough.
But I know we’ve made mistakes.
And the responsibility for that is mine and mine alone.
I feel it deeply, and I always will.
But I feel immense gratitude, too.
I want to thank everyone across the country for bearing the sacrifices asked of you with such strength and patience, and for the love and care you have shown each other.
Too right, and well earned and deserved by all I am sure! This is what a leader who cares looks like.
As a nurse i'll get that. Its a nice gesture but I feel a bit conflicted about it.
There's no word about the domestic staff at the hospital getting it, they have worked just as hard to keep services running, and with the same risk. So have shopworkers and many others.
In addition while I have been working I have also been getting paid, unlike a lot of people and I see that there will be a much smaller grant for those experiencing hardship of £100 to 'help them feed their kids'.
Like I say its's a nice gesture and its nice to be appreciated, and I do like free money, but I feel uncomfortable about it.
I have to say I am with sweepy. I was never in any actual risk
My Mrs and her colleagues were definitely at risk, with several of them becoming infected and one still suffering 8 months on.
Thats the issue - it has to be a universal payment and for sure folk like your wife deserve it but it sits poorly with me because of my situation - full pay a secure job and no extra work or risk
I assumed all nhs staff got it, including cleaners etc. But then again they may be outsourced.
I have to say I am with sweepy. I was never in any actual risk
Fair enough, but I'm assuming if the shit had really hit the fan you would have been mucking in. Either way I don't begrudge nhs workers a bonus, beats token clapping that's for sure.
Very conflicted. I worked in this area and lots of my staff have been grafting like peoples lives depend on it, because they do. I also know other departments that have never been quieter. I also know lots of people who are out of work because of covid
Definitely conflicted
My Mrs is a nurse, before she even got the chance to feel conflicted about it, I reminded her that she's had very little in terms of payrises in 10 years. So she's cool with it.
It's a decent gesture, they can't means test it, well done ScotGov.
Very cheap gesture.
How about rewarding with a proper pay rise
This is bugger all about saying thank you, it’s political vote and point scoring
I'm out, the bollocks has started, even more predictable than the grouse licencing thread.
@FunkyDunc I believe 9% over three years has been offered (don't know if it's been agreed)
With two public sector workers in this House we don't begrudge it.
It's another really difficult subject.. I have huge respect for the Scottish Govt for highlighting this area and I think that Nicola has played an absolute blinder. No-one ever gets everything right all the time but she's done incredibly well in what has to be the most thankless job in the country. I will always salute her for that. The many NHS workers I know well, all deserve everything that we can manage to give them.
Personally, I've been flat out, working at home on Covid related work for the UK Gov since April; I've never had to work so hard and in such difficult circumstances, sometimes in court on-line and having many daily conversations with people in very difficult financial situations, facing mental health challenges or working to tackle a very specialist type of fraud. I've also done long medic shifts in a Covid assessment unit, packaging and transporting numbers of +ve and quite sick patients into the red zone of a general hospital. Sometimes separating the patient from the family at the back door of the truck. When this is all over, I don't think I'll get any special thanks from anyone but I know that I have done my best now for many months. But I'm getting tired.
Agree with funkydunc. Pay rise and backpay for the years they didn’t get one, for UK NHS staff, now that would be a thank you.
I'll start by saying that I think all staff working in and for the NHS deserve the recognition and the money, though I also understand how some may feel conflicted by it.
The hard bitten cynic in me does wonder if this isn't part of an SNP election/indyref campaign. And whether this money for Scottish NHS staff is being funded solely by revenue raised in Scotland.
I think it is a great gesture if all NHS staff get it. I hear what others say about being conflicted and what about shop workers etc. the way I see it the government employs the NHS staff and have, IMO rightly, decided to reward their staff, the same way other employers like tesco, boots etc can decide to reward their staff.
The money could of gone to the unemployed or even the self employed who have been really suffering, NHS staff have done a great job and always do. So will consultants, managers etc be getting bonus also?
The hard bitten cynic in me does wonder if this isn’t part of an SNP election/indyref campaign. And whether this money for Scottish NHS staff is being funded solely by revenue raised in Scotland.
Yes ( but its still right IMO) and yes. The money has to come out of existing budgets.
I think it is a great gesture if all NHS staff get it.
To be fair to Nicola Sturgeon, that's completely out of her hands!
Pure politics with a nice dig at the UK. I've a few friends who work in the NHS and some have been busy, some have carried on as normal but they've all complained/felt jealous about others who have had very little to do for months.
sweepy
Free MemberAs a nurse i’ll get that. Its a nice gesture but I feel a bit conflicted about it.
There’s no word about the domestic staff at the hospital getting it,
Looks like all directly employed NHS staff will get it.
his investment of around £180 million will see over 300,000 staff gain some benefit from this bonus, including nurses, porters, doctors, primary care staff, homecare workers, care home staff, hospice staff and residential child care staff.
https://www.gov.scot/news/gbp-500-bonus-for-health-and-social-care-staff/
Looks like I'll get it as an NHS employed driver. Or 27/40ths or whatever pro rata. Happy to take it.
Not that I think I have done anything extra to earn it. I've worked normal hours and haven't gained or lost any cash or worked any harder than usual. Covid risk? Probably no more than taxi drivers, shop assistans etc.
If it was up to me I would use the cash to support people and businesses who have lost money through no fault of their own through Covid restrictions. Harder to organise perhaps and not as clear a vote winner?
the same way other employers like tesco, boots etc can decide to reward their staff.
Yep..if a private company wants to reward it's staff then they can, and they do. The bank I work for paid all the guys at the lower end of the pay scale (ie the guys who had to be in an office or branch rather than work from home) a one off thank you
As for this being about politcal point scoring, you'd say exactly the same if it had been a pay rise instead. For once can't we not be so cynical..and I say that as someone whom is very cynical of the snp usually!
For those of you who are honest enough to say you don't think you deserve it, would be easy enough to donate it to foodbank or homeless charities. Then you'd be double herioc. 😊👍
This is bugger all about saying thank you, it’s political vote and point scoring
+1
With added, those nasty Tories taxed it
@SuperScale20 Why shouldn’t consultants and NHS managers get it if it’s going to all NHS Scotland staff?
ratherbeintobago I would hope most Managers & Consultants don't need the £500.
Why shouldn’t consultants and NHS managers get it if it’s going to all NHS Scotland staff?
ratherbeintobago I would hope most Managers & Consultants don’t need the £500.
Tbf I doubt the senior doctor in charge of the icu needs 500 quid, nor your average GP. I don't begrudge them it though, even if it just means they can take their family out for a slap up meal at a fancy restraunt when this is all over.
I do however have mixed feelings about the likes of anyone who isn't on a ward (ie a cleaner, nurse, or doctor etc), or f2f with patients, getting it.
I'm specifically thinking about my mate who is a lawyer for the NHS, but equally goes for any middle management roles safely tucked away in an office somewhere...
Most managers and consultants worked just as hard as anyone else during the pandemic surges. I can speak from experience on this.
If the Scots government is going to give anyone in healthcare a bonus payment, then it should go to all staff (including contract support staff) otherwise it will be massively divisive and create a lot of ill-feeling, at a time when everyone is still being asked to voluntarily work above and beyond. And many of the managers are on the same AfC pay spines as senior nursing staff.
@tpbiker Yes… but there were lots of people doing unsung non-patient-facing jobs like labs, transport etc who got none of the glamour and a fair amount of the risk.
Yes ( but its still right IMO) and yes. The money has to come out of existing budgets.
It's funded solely from Scotland, or decisions are devolved to Scotland?
@tpbiker lots of the non patient facing staff have also suffered too. Three deaths in the trust that I work for;two of them in backroom jobs.
its funded out of the scottish government budget. they have a fixed amount and no way of raising any more. something else will be cut to pay for this
If the Scots government is going to give anyone in healthcare a bonus payment, then it should go to all staff (including contract support staff) otherwise it will be massively divisive and create a lot of ill-feeling
this. Its impossible to split staff up over this.
Cheap politics by Sturgeon as usual.
Whilst alot of doctors/nurses have been working harder, many haven't. GP's have been under real strain, as have airway trained anesthetists/ENT specialists and a range of junior doctors who got drafted into High Dependency/Intensive Care.
Sturgeon is just a Scottish Farage. She's a populist.
It’s lovely to see that even something like this has people moaning.
Give it to a fuxking charity if you don’t deserve it and I applaud your efforts. Well done. Meanwhile in private sector layoffs and half pay continue with an impending catastrophic meltdown post brexit in many industries. So while you can whinge and moan remember there’s a shitload of people in sectors that have been hammered, squads of kids getting no schooling and no meals and a whole echelon of people who have simply fallen off the radar. Sorry but I’ve spent all day dealing with moaning arseholes who have no idea what reality is and this us properly pissed me off.
Say it like it is Col!
lots of the non patient facing staff have also suffered too. Three deaths in the trust that I work for;two of them in backroom jobs.
Ok fair enough, as the op of this thread you aren't going to hear any complaints from me if everyone gets something..
I stand by the comments about my mate however..a home working nhs lawyer! I appreciate he's probably a bit of an exception and not who Nicola had in mind when it came to this initiative!
Col - I wasn't complaining and i applaud your post!
Eh...No-one is complaining that I can see. It's a fair comment to say 'I'm not sure I deserve it' if that's how they feel.
I reckon you have some misplaced anger on this thread...
Sorry. I’ve had a hard couple of weeks and seen the hard end of x0,000 layoffs and its shite. I’ve also drink a bottle of wine 😂
Obviously, what they should have done set up a committee, fully staffed by some highly-paid consultants (all their mates) to decide who should, and shouldn't get a wee added bonus. They could deliberate for 6 months or so, developing a complex, yet never-to-be-delivered, IT system to balance up all the criteria, at which point those at the pointy end would get **** all.
its funded out of the scottish government budget. they have a fixed amount and no way of raising any more. something else will be cut to pay for this
That's just not true. The Scottish parliament have plenty of ways to raise additional tax revenue which include income tax and the Scottish version of stamp duty. In her speech today Sturgeon even said how council tax rates were lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK as a selling point for the SNP.
good idea scotroutes, perhaps a few £100thou could be spunked on media consultants to come up with a pithy 3 word slogan to accompany the handout, then its merely business as normal
Gr4ibs - tiny amounts and a very blunt instrument. there is no way of borrowing nor significant tax powers
@Joe Nicola Sturgeon the Scottish Farage? 🤣🤣🤣 and I guess you delight in calling her wee nippy. Pathetic.
tiny amounts and a very blunt instrument. there is no way of borrowing nor significant tax powers
Given they don't really use the income tax powers they have despite the SNP claiming to be progressive what other tax powers could be better used by the Scottish government?
@Joe Nicola Sturgeon the Scottish Farage? 🤣🤣🤣 and I guess you delight in calling her wee nippy. Pathetic.
She plays to a similar base (discounting nationality) though does it with far less cynicism. I still don't believe she actually believes in Scottish independence but can keep enough of the true believers on board (though there are plenty of doubters now in the nut jobs) along with those who hate the Tories to remain in power. Labour is effectively dead after years of taking the electorate for granted.
Actually they have used the tax powers they have - redu ced income tax below UK average invcome and raised it for those higher earners.
What they do not have is proper control over rates, thresholds and many forms of taxation. The scottish government has very limited powers to alter taxes and those powerwes were given in such a way as to make the task almost impossible - certainly they do not have the power to tax as they like
Sturgeon is nothing like Farage. Outward looking, pro european, pro EU and leftish.
Sturgeon is nothing like Farage. Outward looking, pro european, pro EU and leftish.
Indeed..
I'm not a fan of either of their parties particularly, however i respect sturgeon and see her as an asset to our nation.
Contrast that to farage...a man who makes the already unbearable brexit party even more unappealing.
The pair of them are poles apart in pretty much every way I can possibly imagine .
Sturgeon is just a Scottish Farage. She’s a populist.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha..... no. Doing something that's "popular" doesn't make you a populist.
Unlike some (it seems) I don't begrudge NHS workers a bonus - however, I will say that bonuses are quite divisive, as demonstrated on this thread. "But what about....?", "how come he gets it but she doesn't....?" etc etc. It doesn't take long for something designed to boost morale to have exactly the opposite effect.
It seems a brazenly political move - particularly with so much emphasis on the personal message to Bojo not to take any of this thank you payment. However, it's just the latest in a line of "NS making Bojo and chums look bad by being a half decent politician/human", and a welcome intersection of "doing the right thing" and a shrewd political move.
Its my guess that Boris will actually commission (or whatever the word is) a medal for the NHS - that will play well in his head I think, but I think will be met with "I would rather have had the money!" from everyone else
@Gribs never had Farage down as a Euro-centric social democrat. You live and you learn eh! 😂
What I really don't like about todays announcement is that it comes as part of the SNP Conference. These things should be announced in Parliament as part of the Government.
Given they don’t really use the income tax powers they have despite the SNP claiming to be progressive what other tax powers could be better used by the Scottish government?
really I could have sworn I had an S at the end of my tax code (and fairly happily) pay appreciably more in tax as a result...
No control of corporation tax, VAT, Vehicle Excise Duty, Fuel Duty etc. Personally, I don't think they should have played with stamp duty at this time.
I still don’t believe she actually believes in Scottish independence but can keep enough of the true believers on board (though there are plenty of doubters now in the nut jobs) along with those who hate the Tories to remain in power.
I met her a long time ago (when she was a shadow minister), she definitely believes in independence, however she's not as naive as many of her party and quite clearly sees that it isn't necessarily the solution to all Scotland's problem or going to be a pain-free path from a Yes to instant benefit. Back then she was talking in terms of generations (ironically!) not parliamentary cycles to get change/benefits.
Eh…No-one is complaining that I can see.
Except Joe
What I really don’t like about todays announcement is that it comes as part of the SNP Conference. These things should be announced in Parliament as part of the Government.
I agree - although in fairness every party in government Holyrood and Westminster always does this.
As a front line social care worker I'll be getting the £500, doesn't look like there's going to be any pay rise for the likes of me for the rest of my working life (I'm 58). Interest rates are so low its hardly worth saving . Therefore I'll support the local economy by buying expensive whisky and bike parts from local independent shops. Result happiness all round
For anyone who's "conflicted" by receiving the payment, just pay it directly to a local charity - for those in my area, Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue would be happy to get it.
Nothing more than political point scoring. If the Scottish Government really cared about all the work done by all of our excellent public sector professionals then all services would recieve a fair pay rise more often. I would liked to have seen something along the lines of the £500 worked out as a percentage of their pay and given it as a pay rise going forward. Excellent work has been done for years and will continue to be done. I just feel that the financial renumeration does not do justice to the work carried out by these people. It should not take a pandemic for recognition and I don't feel lauding one service over another is fair. Lots of people have contributed to the fight against Covid in meaningful and direct ways. Police Officers I feel are needlessly in harms way of Covid by being asked to break up needless house parties etc. Wouldn't be a lot per year but it would be something that would benefit in the long term.
Surely that’s an additional £500 they’re talking about. The Tories are lovely these days!
Bonuses are subject to tax - requires a change in legislation to alter that, which was the challenge she set Boris.
Have we understood this correctly- she's grabbed a load of positive headlines, taken money from other front line services to give a (deserved) bonus, money ultimately provided by the UK wide taxpayer, and then making the UK government look bad for taxing it, to show how great an independent Scotland could be?
She's a bloody genius.
With a nice little dig asking Johnson to make sure its not taxed as she does not have the power
She can't remove the tax but she can pay more of a bonus and tax it so the net bonus is £500. This is what was suggested to the Welsh Gov when they asked about this in May. Nicola knows this but has chosen to not mention it.
The Guardian ran some stats, lowest earners on Universal Credit will get a net of about £123 out of the £500
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/01/nhs-staff-could-lose-75-of-sturgeon-covid-bonus-say-experts
The Guardian ran some stats, lowest earners on Universal Credit will get a net of about £123 out of the £500
And that's the flaw with Universal Credit. On the one had it seems fair enough that if your earnings go up that state should help less, but on the other, there's little incentive to earn marginally more because you end up with so little extra. Of course there might be a question why there are so many people working in the NHS who are only financially viable because of the benefits system.
I was working in the financial inclusion/poverty/charity sector when UC came in.
In many ways it was a really good idea, but the crutch was the taper % was increased to the point where it didn't pay to work. Weirdly, it was George Osbourne who had set it at a good balance point but the rest of the government at the time who got it cranked up. While not a fan of Georgie boy, I do think he had this right (at least at first). The change to monthly payments and housing benefit straight to folk (instead of the landlords) was pretty controversial but probably needed.
I'm on UC at the moment. I was looking at doing Just Eat deliveries on my bike. I would end up at working at about £3/hour. While you could look at it as a sacrifice to get some experience in the world of work, I've got an undergrad degree, two post grads and my last job was IT manager for a global company, so I don't think I'd be learning too much about "work".
Instead I've entered a weird underground economy where I do demolition and other "on the tools" jobs for my builder and he pays me in TVs, radiators and over-ordered building materials which I'm using to do up my girlfriend and I's flats or punt cash-in-hand on FB Marketplace. In the next 9 months my GF and I will be renting out or respective flats and cruising around Europe in my shonky old van going bodyboarding and drinking du vin
Apologies for the digression.