Charities are being forced to gamble that they will have enough money to fund the living wage for staff providing care at home or supported care to vulnerable people, ahead of 'challenging' negotiations with councils.

While a deal is close to being struck between councils and care home owners over the cost of residential care for elderly people, it does not cover other care services, mostly run in the voluntary sector.

However charities will have to pay all care staff staff the UK minimum wage from April 1st and the Scottish Government's living wage for care workers from October.

Care home owners warned yesterday that an agreement with councils body Cosla setting the amount they will be paid for care has been signed 'with a gun to their heads' and could lead to cutbacks and closures.

Despite concerns, private care home umbrella group Scottish Care has agreed to the uplift which will help deliver a national living wage for frontline care workers.

Charities running care homes are also covered by the care home deal, but many also run other care services which will not be covered by the fee increase. However they will also be expected to begin paying all frontline care staff the Scottish Government's living wage of £8.25 an hour by October this year and must introduce the lower UK Government Naiotnal Minimum Wage of £7.20 an hour by April 1st.

One insider described the situation as 'pressing' and negotiating rates with councils which will allow the living wage to be paid as 'very challenging'.

As fees paid by councils for care at home and supported care services are not part of a national contract, every charity providing such care will have to renegotiate with every council where they do business.

Until such negotiations are concluded, charities will have to bear the cost themselves.

Annie Gunner Logan, director of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) said: "We welcome the Scottish Government making this commitment to the living wage for care workers - it is something we have been arguing for for a long time.

"But there is no getting away from the fact that there will be challenges in implementing it."

Many councils have encouraged competition over the pricing of care at home, with the result that some providers have won business by keeping wages low, she said. But if contracts do not fund the living wage properly, services could suffer from cutbacks in other areas. "If we get wages of £8.25 an hour, but people are not supervised properly or the system around them is not working properly, that won't work. If this is a public service it needs to be properly resourced."

As the Herald reported yesterday, Scottish Care is demanding an independent assessment of the true cost of providing care. MsGunner Logan said this should be extended to care at home and supported living services.

"This is an opportunity to recognise what it actually costs to provide care and support," she said.

The SNP said the Scottish Government had allocated £250m to social care services in the most recent budget.

An SNP spokesperson said: "As part of this settlement we require the payment of the Scottish Living Wage to all workers in adult social care.

"Social care workers do a vital job and they deserve a fair wage - and by increasing pay in the sector we can make it a more attractive career, reduce staff turnover and see a reduced use of agency staff."

However Labour Public Services spokesperson Jackie Baillie said Labour would introduce a national guarantee for care workers with the living wage, and better terms and conditions. “Since 20011 £1.4 billion has been cut from the local government budgets which deliver social care," she said. "Thousands of jobs have been lost, and services have been placed under immense pressure. The SNP sticking plaster approach to health and social care simply isn’t working. Labour would protect the health budget in real terms and but spend it more effectively with more investment in social care."

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "This policy benefits tens of thousands of people in Scotland and the Scottish Government need to address the issue of funding."