Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 26
Second Report - Long-term funding of adult social care
Published 4 Aug 2022
Paragraph 117
Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Long-term funding of adult social care All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Minister for Care and Mental Health asserted that the chapter on the workforce in the People at the Heart of Care White Paper is the Government’s social care workforce strategy, but the number of further calls for a social care workforce strategy that have been made since the White Paper’s publication clearly indicates that the contents of that chapter do not amount to a strategy, or are not what the sector expected to see from one. The Government should publish a 10-year strategy for the adult social care workforce. It should develop the strategy in collaboration with care workers, providers, local government, the NHS, unpaid carers, and people receiving care. The strategy should not just be a wish-list but needs to be a clear roadmap with core milestones, outcomes, and measures of success. We agree with the Government that retention should be a key performance indicator, but it is important that measures of success also include opportunities for progression, reduced prevalence of zero-hour contracts, and whether care workers feel valued for the highly skilled nature of their work.
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Second Report - Long-term funding of adult social care (HC 19), paragraph 117, 4 August 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 15 June 2023 (deadline 4 October 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it remains "fully committed" to the 10-year vision for adult social care and points to up to £7.5 billion of additional funding over two years, while declining some of the Committee's specific recommendations.
- On funding, it cites the Autumn Statement's "up to £7.5 billion" of additional funding over two years for adult social care and discharge, with up to £2.8 billion in 2023-24 and up to £4.7 billion in 2024-25.
- It says it "agree[s]" that market shaping should include a dedicated focus on outcomes-based commissioning, and it is investing in local authority commissioning capability.
- It declines to introduce statutory housing plan requirements ("We do not intend to introduce statutory requirements at this time") and has "no plans" for a review of carer's assessments or to lower visa salary thresholds.
- On a multi-year settlement, it says it "will aim to provide" one "wherever possible"; it will not proceed with the Review of Relative Needs and Resources during this Spending Review.