Thank you, Darren Millar, for welcoming this payment as a step in the right direction. I welcome his support. Yes, senior care staff and managers will receive the additional payment, and I think that I want to repeat, really, that our purpose is to try to professionalise the workforce—those who are directly giving care, the direct care givers.

We did give two recognition payments during the course of the pandemic: one in 2020 and one in 2021; one of £500 and one of £725. The first one did go to all staff in the social care field. For example, in care homes, all the people working in the care homes had them, and the £725 went to all health and social care staff. So, those were recognition payments, but this is not a recognition payment in that way. The recognition payments were recognising the risks that those staff took and how they were so close to all the perils of the pandemic, really, and what a huge amount they put in. So, those were recognition payments; this isn't a recognition payment.

This is a payment that's going to be implemented along with the real living wage and is trying to move the social care staff who directly deliver this care to a professional body. By itself, it's not enough; I think we've said that already today. There's an awful lot more that's got to be done in terms of terms and conditions and development and opportunities for training—all those things—and those are the things we want to move on to next, but in no way are we not recognising what those other staff have done.FootnoteLink