Adult Social Care

Lord Wood of Anfield Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Wood of Anfield]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to remedy skills shortages and workforce gaps in the provision of adult social care.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to recognising the adult social care workforce as the professionals they are. In April we expanded the care workforce pathway with four new role categories providing guidance on care workers’ career development. We are continuing the learning and development support scheme, backed up by up to £12 million in funding, and introducing new digital workforce tools. That is in addition to introducing legislation for the first ever fair pay agreement for care workers.

[Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that Answer. I draw the House’s attention to my interests in the register. Social care workers do an extraordinary job, including with my own mother, but there are huge skills shortages in this sector, estimated at over 130,000 at present. Partly as a result of that, the sector is dependent on foreign workers, who make up 20% to 25% of the workforce, yet last month the Government said the recruitment of overseas care workers will end in 2028. That is the year when the report by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, on the future of social care will be published. What is the Government’s strategy in the interim period now that 2028 is the cut-off date for recruitment from overseas—before the plan for reform of the sector has been published?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

It is probably worth me saying that, while the changes announced in the recently published immigration White Paper mean that overseas recruitment for adult social care will end, as my noble friend said, that is because, as he will know, the Government wish to reduce reliance on an overseas workforce. That is why there is a transition period. Until 2028 the visa extensions and in-country switching will be able to continue. The Government are also taking a range of actions to make the sector more available, more highly professionalised, more skilled and better rewarded than we have seen thus far. In all these ways, the transition period is important. The estimate is that the transition period will allow this change to be made, and better support and professionalisation for domestic as well as existing international workers can continue.