Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to local authorities about the payment of sleep-in shifts; and whether any such guidance has been updated following the ruling by the Court of Appeal in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad [2018] EWCA Civ 1641.

Updated Government guidance National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage: Calculating the minimum wage was published on 8 November setting out the implications for paying workers for sleep-in shifts following the ruling by the Court of Appeal in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad. The Government sent advance notice of the publication to local government representatives. A copy of the guidance is attached.

The Government is sending a clear message that the judgment should not be used as an opportunity to make ad-hoc changes to the fees paid to providers. Commissioners and providers should be working together to determine a fair rate of pay for sleep-in shifts to fit their local labour market conditions.

The Government has given councils access to up to £3.6 billion more, dedicated for adult social care in 2018-19 and up to £3.9 billion for 2019-20. Overall, councils are able to increase spending on adult social care by 9% in real terms from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The Government encourages employers to pay more than the minimum wage wherever possible but recognises that employers’ ability to do so will depend on a range of factors.