ILF Scotland are pleased to inform our Recipients that the Department of Health in Northern Ireland has agreed a pay uplift for Personal Assistants.
The minimum hourly rate for Personal Assistants will rise from at least £12.21 to £12.71 per hour from 1 April 2026. This means an increase of 4.1%.
This will allow Recipients to increase their Personal Assistants’ hourly rate of pay to a minimum of £12.71 per hour for every hour they work including overnight hours of support. This increase must be passed on to staff and should not use it for any other purpose.
Please note that this increase applies only to directly employed Personal Assistants and not to those who are self-employed.
ILF Scotland will automatically uplift all relevant awards with effect from this date to ensure all of our Fund Recipients are in a position to comply with this new minimum rate of pay.
We have written to all of our Recipients to let them know what this means for their particular award.
Recipients must contact their Payroll Agency to tell them to pay their Personal Assistants the increased rate of pay from 1 April 2026.
ILF Scotland will not automatically apply an uplift for services purchased by Recipients from care provider organisations.
If Recipients receive support from a care provider, they may, in due course, advise them in writing of an increase to the hourly rate they will charge Recipients to enable them to pay their staff this increased rate of pay.
Providers should notify Recipients of this in writing and then Recipients should post or email a copy of this letter to us. We will consider it on an individual case by case basis and can backdate increases to hourly rates for up to four weeks.
ILF Scotland will apply this increase automatically, so Recipients do not have to contact us. However, if there are any questions about the pay uplift, or if individual circumstances have changed, Recipients should contact their Specialist Caseworker on 0300 200 2022 or by emailing enquiries@ilf.scot.
