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 feasibility of increasing pay for all social care staff including direct care workers.

The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who ultimately set their pay, independent of central government. Local authorities work with care providers to determine a fair rate of pay based on local market conditions.

We are providing councils with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021-22 on top of the significant support provided over the last year to support the sector deal with COVID-19. This funding is designed to ensure key pressures in the system are met, including the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage. An increase in the rate of the National Living Wage means many of the lowest paid care workers will have benefitted from at least a 2.2% pay from 1 April. Additionally, we have ring-fenced over £1.8 billion to support adult social care providers for measures such as helping maintain the normal wages of staff who may need to self-isolate.