Government Political Priorities and Legislative Agenda
Baroness Rafferty Excerpts(2 days, 1 hour ago)
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Baroness Rafferty (Lab)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lady Nargund. The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to social care in his response to questions on his Statement to the Commons on Tuesday. While we wait for the recommendations from the review by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, there are opportunities to build on the important steps the Government have already taken to raise the profile of, and boost much-needed capacity in, social care nursing.
One of the signal achievements of the previous Administration was the passage of the Employment Rights Act and, within that, the establishment of the fair pay agreement. The potential impact of this development should not be underestimated. It seeks to elevate the status, as well as the terms and conditions, of those working in social care, shining a light on those on the margins of care with no representation or negotiating power to improve their lot. This is to be welcomed as the social care sector employs some 1.5 million people. It has a huge economic footprint, even though most workers earn just above the minimum wage—“poverty pay”, as the Prime Minister commented on Tuesday. I argue that the potential to boost the earning power and the career and professional development of social care workers, and therefore the attractiveness of one of the largest sectors of employment in the UK, is the adult equivalent of reducing child poverty by removing the two-child cap. Let us also not forget that most care workers are women, and any boost to wages can bolster household incomes.
The fair pay agreement could provide a much-needed stimulus for nursing reform. The most recent estimates from Skills for Health record some 37,000 nurse registrants in the sector. Concentrated mainly in care homes, registered nurses carry heavy responsibilities. Adult social care pay has lagged far behind that of the NHS. This fair pay agreement will hopefully link responsibility to reward and begin to align social care pay with that of the NHS.