Social Services: Staff

(asked on 30th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the number of (a) EU and (b) EEA nationals working in the social care sector, what plans he has to incentivise the domestic labour market to enter the social care profession.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 9th May 2019

The Government hugely values the contribution of the 104,000 European Union staff who work in the social care sector. The Prime Minister has made it clear that we not only want them to stay, but feel welcomed and encouraged to do so. The EU Settlement Scheme has now fully opened, is free and will allow EU nationals employed in the social care sector to secure their long-term status in the United Kingdom.

The Government is working alongside stakeholders in the adult social care sector to ensure there is the right number of people, with the right skills, knowledge and values to meet increasing demand, and deliver high quality, person-centred care and support. We know we need to redouble our efforts to promote jobs and careers in social care to the domestic workforce which is why my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has made improving the working lives of the millions of people who work in health and social care one of his top priorities, and why on 12 February we launched a national recruitment campaign for social care.

The campaign, ‘Every Day is Different’ showcases how rewarding and varied social care careers can be, with opportunities for progression and professional development. The campaign ran from February to early April and its objective was to raise the image and profile of the sector and encourage people with the right values to apply for current vacancies.

The upcoming Social Care Green Paper will set out the Department’s proposals for reform of the sector to put it on a more sustainable future footing. This will include a vision for workforce and proposals to boost recruitment and retention in the longer term.

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