Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the launch of the Future Social Care Coalition, if he will take steps to (a) improve the (i) career structure and (ii) employment conditions and (b) increase (i) funding for skills training and (ii) pay of social care workers.

The Government recognises the importance of training and development for social workers and commissions a range of programmes to support the skills and knowledge of the workforce and opportunities for career progression. This includes over £11 million of funding in 2020/21 for the Workforce Development Fund which supports vocational learning for the care sector.

The Government does not determine care workers’ pay or employment conditions. We have given councils access to an additional £1 billion of funding for adult social care. The funding is intended to help councils to meet rising costs of social care, including rising pay. In any event, all care workers over 18 years old should be paid at least the National Living Wage or if over 25 years old, the National Minimum Wage.