Adult Social Care Workforce inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“Adult social care is care and support for working-age adults with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, or illnesses, as well as care for older adults who cannot manage tasks associated with day-to-day living. Adults social care also includes support for their carers. In 2016–17 local authorities spent £14.8 billion on adult social care. The Department of Health and Social Care is responsible for adult social care policy and works with its delivery partner Skills for Care to develop the care workforce. In 2017–18 the Department provided £23.5 million in funding to Skills for Care. There are currently 1.34 million jobs in adult care, shared between local authorities and the private sector. During 2016–17, the vacancy rate across the sector was 6.6%, with annual turnover in the workforce at 27.8%. Meanwhile, ‘informal care’ from family and friends is said to be worth about £100 billion to the UK economy. According to a recent National Audit Office (NAO) report , the Department for Health and Social Care does not have an up-to-date workforce strategy to address the needs of the sector, whilst local and regional bodies—some of which are overseen by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government—are not taking the lead whilst such a strategy is drawn up. The NAO also found that the Government’s ongoing work to integrate healthcare and social care is not expected to result in a reduction in the number of care jobs required. The Committee will take evidence from the Department of Health and Social Care, Skills for Care, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The adult social care sector is underfunded, with the care workforce suffering from low pay, low esteem and high turnover of staff. The care sector is in a precarious state but the Department of Health and Social Care (the Department) has not yet said how it intends to put in place a long-term, sustainable funding regime to meet the ever-increasing demand for care. The Department does not know whether the ways that local authority’s commission care, and the prices they pay providers, are contributing to the problems within the care workforce. We are not convinced that the lack of regulation within the care sector workforce and the balance of regulation versus a market-based approach, is supporting the care sector to provide the best care possible. The UK’s departure from the EU is causing uncertainty over how the workforce will be sustained, particularly in areas that are more reliant on non-UK workers. There is an urgent need to reverse the poor public image that care work has to boost recruitment and retention across the care sector. We are also concerned that the move to supporting people with substantive and critical care needs only is contributing to growing levels of unmet need for people with moderate care needs. These moderate needs may well grow into substantial or critical needs if support is not given. The Department has committed to addressing all these issues through the health and care workforce strategy that it is currently consulting on, and the promised Green Paper on funding of care for older adults. But given the pressures on the sector, we are concerned that the Department sees the Green Paper as a cure all and underestimates the scale of the challenge. The Department must ensure that its delivery partner, Skills for Care, is properly supported and funded to implement the workforce strategy.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 21 December 2017 to 9 May 2018.
- Oral evidence 28 Feb 2018
- Report 9 May 2018
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 38th Report -The adult social care workforce in England ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 28 Feb 2018No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗