Tories told to 'grasp nettle' and pay social care workers decent wage
Tory ministers were today urged to “grasp the nettle” and pay carers a decent wage to ease the crisis gripping the sector.
Critics fear the latest Conservative plan to cut net migration will further hammer social care, which is being crippled by 152,000 vacancies and low pay. The Government is banning would-be foreign recruits from bringing their children with them to the UK - potentially making the roles less attractive.
Bishop of London Sarah Mullally told the House of Lords 70,000 social carers had been recruited from abroad. “Clearly we are reliant on assistance from overseas,” she told peers. “Given they are no longer able to bring dependants on their visa, has the Government considered the impact this will have on recruiting workers from overseas into the social care sector?”
Former NHS Confederation chief executive, Labour’s Lord Philip Hunt, said: “The reason we recruit so many people from overseas are poor terms and conditions in social care. The Government sets the market for social care through its poor funding of local authorities.” He called on ministers to “grasp the nettle and realise we actually have to pay care workers decent pay and conditions”.
Tory Lord Michael Forsyth, a former Cabinet Minister, accused the Conservatives of shifting the problem to town halls. “The Government has just shuffled off responsibility onto local authorities,” he added. Former Local Government Association vice-president, Lib Dem Lord John Shipley, said: “Local authorities are seriously underfunded for adult and children's social care and are cutting other public services as a consequence.”
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Crossbencher Baroness Mary Watkins, an Emeritus Professor of healthcare leadership at Plymouth University, feared problems in discharging NHS patients were fuelled by the crisis in the sector. “Many delayed transfers of care from hospital are associated with difficulties in getting social care in people’s own homes,” she told peers. Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, an ex-chief executive of the Carers National Association, highlighted a recent National Audit Office report which said only £19million of £265m allocated to overhaul staffing in the sector has been spent so far. Blasting the “utterly inadequate response to the crisis in social care”, she added: “The slowness of progress is somewhat frustrating.”
She feared 100 vacancies in the Department of Health and Social Care were hampering attempts to spend the cash. The peer claimed that “social care is simply not a priority for this Government and once again millions of unpaid carers will be left to prop up a crumbling system”. The NAO public spending watchdog last month said the Government’s “ambitious” blueprint for social care faces “significant risks”.
Responding to today's criticism, Health Minister Lord Nick Markham said measures banning foreign carers’ dependants were needed to haul down net migration, which hit the “very, very high number” of 745,000 in 2022. But he claimed: “Our figures generally think we will be able to keep the recruitment coming.”
He said cash pumped into social care accounted for about three-quarters of a town hall’s spending, adding: “That’s not a good situation because obviously a local authority has a number of issues it needs to deal with.” The peer said the Government had “made up to £8.1billion available over this year and next to strengthen adult social care provision”.
He added: “The Government remains committed to our 10-year vision to put people at the heart of care and make long-term, sustainable investment to future-proof the sector.” He admitted he was “concerned” about the “speed of deployment” in spending funds, adding: “We need to do everything we can to speed it up.”
The Mirror is campaigning for Fair Care for All.
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