A care workforce fit for Britain | New Economics Foundation

Spreading high-quality, well-paid care jobs nationwide

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It will come as no surprise to those of you who follow me, but I virtually agree with everything in this report and where I don’t agree fully it is down to timings, as I feel the needs are now, short-term and not longer-term.

One example is social care workers pay and yes, it should always have been much higher than it is now and linking it to the Real Living Wage would have been so correct some years ago, but now the difference in rates between the Real Living Wage and the National Living Wage is not that much, except for when the increases come in force for with the National Living Wage the increaces are generally from April when the increases in the Real Living Wage are the previous November.

The other is  increasing social care workers salaries to 75% of nurses’ wages which is down as long-term, when this should be, at least medium-term and really short-term because it is now that more staff are required and really the Real Living Wage will not create this.

What is not mentioned in the report is tax, and really income tax for how can it be justified to tax a Living Wage, be in National or Real, for if it is a Living Wage, which it most likely is not, how can any reduction in the amount be justified. The then short fall in Government income could be raised by ensuring all loopholes in the tax system are closed, not only Non-Dom status, but in the ways multi-nationals are allowed to reduce the amounts they are taxed on and other means to reduce. A legitimate business expense allowed, but needs to be seriously looked at. More use of Windfall taxes and most likely a slightly highrer rate for those earning above £500,000 per year.

It is said that we need to pay so-called Captains of Indusrty and Multi-National Chief Executives more to get the best there is, but that could be said of any workers, for every worker no matter how much they are paid are very important and no one in any team is as much required as anyother.

Perhaps have a ruling that the top earner in any company could only receive an income, perhaps including bonuses, of a certain percentage above that of the lowest earner.

 

Source: A care workforce fit for Britain | New Economics Foundation

£300m boost for adult social care workforce through winter – Community Care

True there are some care providers who do cream off money but they are few and far between.

I am a family carer, those who provides care and are unpaid, but with advancing years and deteriorating health I now can’t provide the care required. So I applied to our Local Authority for a Direct Payment so I could employ carers myself and when we did in 1988 the rate allowed by our Local Authority was very good, but since 2010 when it was £7.20 per hour the value of the rate continued to deteriorate.

From 2011 to 2015 I was allowed only one rate uplift, which brought the rate to £8.00 per hour and in 2016 requested another and that was granted in 2019 to £9.00 per hour.

During 2020 no uplifts were allowed for anyone using Direct Payments, but a good uplift was granted in 2021 being £9.50 per hour.

However, while it was a good rate in care those care workers could have earned around £14 per hour in a supermarket or Amazon, with much less experience and responsibility required.

So, the rate for care work is in no way sufficient and no I am not creaming off any money for the LA only pays sufficient for the rate in question. Care workers in providers are getting similar.

By saying what you do you are degrading care workers and the whole care profession.

Hardly anyone wishes to come into care to receive abysmal rewards. For to do care work to a good recognised standard considerable training, dedication and the will to provide good quality care is required.

The miserly £300million goes nowhere near far enough, as it is well short of the required £1.5 billion requested. Even that falls far short of what is required to bring pay levels back to 2010, which would require at least £12 billion.

But, even that falls far short of what should be coming from this Government, for it is not just pay rates that need to be improved.

There needs to be a

recognised sick pay arrangement

alterations to the UK Immigration regulations to allow more persons wishing to do care work from outside the UK

sufficient travel expenses

allowances for unsocial hours working

and much more.

Care work is in very grave danger of being ‘run into the ground’ causing even more problems for persons requiring care, leading to calamitous deteriorations of persons in need of care and also their families, which will greatly increase the demand for care from the NHS.

We are quickly sliding into Victorian conditions, when care for the poor and vulnerable was non-existent.

 

Source: £300m boost for adult social care workforce through winter – Community Care

Petition – Pay all employed carers the Living Wage

Living Wage Petition

 I am currently petitioning for all employed Carers to be paid the #LivingWage. My goal is to achieve 10,000 signatures to receive a response from the Government whilst providing evidence to inform the forthcoming Green Paper on Social Care.

I would really appreciate you supporting the Families Lobbying & Advising Sheffield (FLASh) campaign through signing the petition available on https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236151.

FLASh are a group of family carers of relatives with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism in Sheffield who are concerned at the state of Social Care, not only in Sheffield, but throughout the UK.

Social Care is in a crisis, putting increasing pressure on the National Health Service. Action is needed. Supporting Carers in being paid the #LivingWage will create a sustainable workforce model for general practice which will help eliminate nursing shortages in the National Health Service. Supporting evidence can be viewed below.

1. The Government currently have a recruitment campaign for the Care Industry ‘Every Day is Different’

 

2. HFT report ‘Sector Pulse Check’

 

3. The King’s Fund has also conducted a study; ‘Closing the Gap: Key Areas for action on the health and care workforce’

 

4. The ‘Social care workforce’ study by the Care Association Alliance and law firm Royds Withy King found that one in three workers leave the sector every year – the highest turnover rate of all job sectors in the UK.

 

Please support and share with your family, friends and network.

For more information, please email carervoice@gmail.com.

Best regards,

Chris Sterry

Vice-chair of FLASh (Families Lobbying & Advising Sheffield)

#pay #employed #wage #funding #government #serviceproviders #living #payemployedcarersthelivingwage #Livingwageforemployedcarers #Livingwageforemployedcarers

Financial Freedom for Families supported the petition.