Create an Emergency Carers Support Fund to increase care worker wages

The Government should support the 1.6 million care workers who, like me, are caring for our most vulnerable during COVID-19, by immediately creating a £3.9billion Emergency Carers Support Fund so we all receive at least the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended hourly rate of £9.50 (£10.85 London).

Up to three quarters of care workers earn less than the Real Living Wage, a quarter are on zero-hours contracts and tens of thousands are still not paid for all the hours they work.

Along with the cross party, cross sector Future Social Care Coalition I believe it is time for a fair deal for social care workers. This is the first time that employers, unions and charities as well as those using care services have come together along with five former Health Ministers to speak with one voice.

The Government recognises that the social care workforce has more than ever demonstrated unwavering compassion and dedication throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. We are proud of and immensely grateful to them for their ongoing work. We want to celebrate their work and give them the acknowledgement and appreciation that they deserve.

The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who ultimately set their pay, independent of central government. Local authorities, as commissioners of adult social care, were given market shaping duties by the Care Act 2014 and must work with care providers to determine a fair rate of pay based on their local market.

Whilst the Government does not set levels of pay for care workers, we are committed to putting the social care sector on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. All social care workers are entitled to be paid at least the national minimum wage or national living wage for the work that they do. Since the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016, care worker pay has increased at a faster rate than before. All time spent caring for clients, travelling between appointments, and waiting to start the appointment must be included in the pay calculation. (Further guidance on what counts as working time is available here: https://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work.) Further, we have given councils access to an additional £1 billion of funding for adult social care. This funding is designed to ensure key pressures in the system are met, including 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 benefit from at least a 2.2% pay rise next year.