Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle shortages of care home workers in rural areas.

English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care (ASC).

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England. Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 states that providers must deploy “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to enable them to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times”. Where the CQC finds a breach in this regulation, it can take regulatory action to ensure the safety of the people drawing on care and support.

The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the ASC sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to improve the recruitment and retention of the domestic workforce. This is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the ASC sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do.

We are also supporting the professionalisation of the ASC workforce by implementing the Care Workforce pathway as the first universal ASC career structure and providing £12 million through the Learning and Development Support Scheme this year for staff to complete training and qualifications.