Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of adult social care capacity on delivering the 10-year health plan.

A fairly paid adult social care workforce with the right training, qualifications, and values will be able to provide high quality tailored care and support to those who need it and will support the priorities that we set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, namely shifting care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from treating sickness to promoting prevention.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the Government’s aims to shift towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and wrap around people’s lives to help people stay independent for longer. This speaks to the heart of what adult social care, done well, already is. More integrated working between the National Health Service, adult social care, local government, and civil society will be crucial to the delivery of neighbourhood health.

The Government recognises the scale of the reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and improve the recruitment and retention of the workforce. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028 to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce, backed by £500 million of new investment.