Health secretary Shona Robison has been accused of making false promises to care workers and putting services for vulnerable people at risk, in a furious row with charity bosses over sleepover shifts.

Annie Gunner-Logan, director of Community Care and support Providers Scotland (CCPS) launched a strongly-worded attack on the Scottish Government, accusing ministers of imposing a £15m wage bill on the sector without a word about how it should be paid for.

After a court ruling that traditionally lower rates for sleepover shifts should still be part of the minimum wage, such night shifts were exempt when the Scottish Government introduced its care worker living wage in October 2016. This was in recognition of the cost implications it would impose on care provider.

Yesterday Ms Robison announced that this exemption will be lifted in 2018/19, billing the move as a “pay boost for carers”.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said the pay rise would mean care workers would now get at least £8.45 for every hour they work. “This will make a real difference to those whose hard work enables thousands of people across Scotland to live with dignity,” she said.

But Ms Gunner Logan said the announcement did not reflect the fact that the Scottish Government will not have to deliver the pay rise, adding “where’s the money?”.

She said CCPS, a membership organisation for voluntary sector care providers, had been reluctant to criticise over the move, and supported the principle of paying the living wage. However she said warnings from the third sector had been ignored.

CCPS Director Annie Gunner Logan said charity care providers were already under strain in meeting existing living wage commitments, adding: The announcement says absolutely nothing about the resources required for delivery. The gap between current pay for sleepovers and the Living Wage is far in excess of anything we’ve tried to address up to this point, but the statement is completely silent on what it will cost, where the money will come from or how it will reach employers.”

The Government statement said the 2018/19 implementation date would give time to solve such problems, including by ‘redesigning’ sleepovers.

But CCPS says this is a euphemism for phasing out sleepovers or replacing them with waking night shifts and ‘on-call’ services.

Ms Gunner Logan added: “We believe that it is fundamentally dishonest to promise a pay rise to people working sleepover shifts, in the knowledge that these shifts will then be ‘redesigned’, aka. removed or replaced.

“There is a risk that people’s individual overnight support arrangements will undergo radical changes over which they will have little or no choice and control,” she said. “It is our strongly held view that insufficient work has been taken forward in the interim to address and mitigate the risks involved, and today’s announcement fails even to make reference to them.”

Others in the sector welcomed the announcement while also voicing caution over potential problems. Theresa Shearer, Chief Executive Officer of ENABLE Scotland, said:

“This is the right thing to do. It confirms that the contribution of hard working frontline staff, who care for and support some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland, is both valued and respected.”

But she said there was a risk the move would see services for disabled people “regressing” to institutionalised models of care: “Turning this commitment into reality will not be without its challenges,” she said.

Ms Robison declined to comment on the CCPS concerns, but said: “The Scottish Government has worked closely with health and social care partnerships, care providers, trade unions, individuals using services and other stakeholders and will continue this engagement as partners begin to redesign sleepover provision.”

Scottish Labour leadership hopeful Richard Leonard said the living wage was welcome but the Government needed to address the issue of resources. “As we have recently witnessed with the Bield Care Home closures our social care system is teetering on the brink and is desperately in need of a radical review to ensure the resources needed are provided,” he said. “We need to review the whole social care system in Scotland.”