Department Of Health
Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for your introduction.
Before I say anything else, I would also like to say thank you to Beverley, for all the work that youve done over the last year as ADASS President. Its been a real pleasure to work with you, and actually can I congratulate you on the impact youve had.
I think your particular focus on unpaid carers has really made a difference and will continue to make a difference as the fruit of all your hard work comes through and I also very much look forward to working with Melanie, whether we are on wearing the same suits which was a complete coincidence and was not planned but Im delighted that we are indeed so much in sync today.
Now, around this room I look at you and I know that many of you are directors of adult social services or working with directors of adult social services and very much living and breathing adult social care every day. And I expect most of you like me spend many hours every day grappling with the challenges of the moment.
I suspect it often feels relentless and no sooner have you solved one problem than you are onto another.
How often do we get the chance to take a step back and think further into the future? Not often enough, I would bet.
But Im going to ask you to take a moment now, and think about what we want social care to look like in 10 years time.
Its a question which goes to the heart of the challenges that aging Western societies like ours face.
But we dont talk about it often enough, and sometimes when we do, the debate can be oversimplified.
So for instance, at the one end, youll hear from people who think that social care should be nationalised. That it should no longer be the responsibility of local authorities that many of you are a part of. Nor should it indeed be delivered by independent providers. Those people call for a national state run service sometimes they may even call it a national care service.
At the other end, you hear from people who think that care should be an exclusively family affair. That its not for the state nor anyone else to look after granny or grandpa and that when duty calls, relatives (and if Im honest its often but not always the female ones) should forgo their jobs, put their careers and their financial independence on hold, and sign up to an indefinite period of caring for a loved one.
Now as Care Minister, I actually often find myself arguing against both of these viewpoints.
Simplicity, ideology, and slogans grab headlines. But actually, as you will know, care is complex.
Social care supports so many different people with so many different needs, young and old, people living independently, living in residential care, living with families, living with support and a one-size-fits all approach is not the right answer.
We need a vision for care which recognises this, even if its harder to spell out, and even if its more complicated to deliver.
My vision is for a care system which first and foremost recognises what people who draw on care want and is organised to serve that.
So it must give people choice and control over their care; care that meets their needs; and care which they can rely on. Whoever they are and wherever they live.
My vision is for a care system which is joined up with the NHS through data, shared care records, and the relationships of professionals who provide or organise care but it is different from the NHS.
My vision is for a care system which is innovative and makes the most of technology, while at the same time cherishing the human relationships and compassion which are the essence of social care.
Thats why our care workers care professionals must be recognised for their skills and supported to fulfil their aspirations
aspirations not only to care for people wonderfully day to day (which I know motivates so many care workers I have met) but also to pursue meaningful careers in care.
And our care system must support unpaid carers - recognising that caring for a loved one can be a demanding and even lonely burden, while at the same time one of the greatest acts of love.
Even more than now, I want our future care system to help people live independently in their own homes for as long as they wish supported by their community and carers they know and trust.
Thats why my vision for social care in the future builds on the strengths of what we have now; a care system rooted in local communities, and in which local government plays a vital and pivotal role.
And clearly, we need a care system that has the funding to make this a reality where we as a society recognise the value of care, and invest accordingly.
Butthis is not just a just a vision.
Its what I have been working towards as Care Minister, both the first time I was in this post during the pandemic, as Sarah mentioned, and since my re-appointment.
And were making progress.
Im going to run through where weve got to on some of these aims.
Workforce reform
Ill start on our workforce reforms because these mean so much to me. And because social care is at its heart about people.
We know it can be hard to recruit and retain staff in social care and a third of staff each year change jobs
Over the last year international recruitment has helped fill vacancies, but that is not the answer for social care long-term. We have to make social care jobs and social care as a career work for our own home-grown talent.
Thats why we are investing in training, recognition, and career progression.
In January we launched the Care Workforce Pathway. I am really excited about this because Ive wanted care staff to have a career structure like NHS staff do since I first became Care Minister.
And its so important to me that staff in care have equal professional recognition to staff in the NHS, and a career structure is a crucial part of that.
The Pathway sets out a career path with progression for people starting out in social care, and helps more experienced care workers to be recognised for their skills.
To support care staff progress along this pathway, we are funding hundreds of thousands of training places.
In January I put 5 million into the Workforce Development Fund. And well be launching a larger fund later this year.
Also in January we launched a new fund to train apprentice social workers. Weve recently released nearly 8 million from this to local authorities - and in the Summer there will be another opportunity to apply to this fund, as well as a new fund for social care nursing apprentices.
So we have a new career structure, new accredited training and more routes into social care.
Care workers also need to be able to demonstrate their skills to new employers, so they dont have to retrain every time they change job. Thats why were developing a digital system for care workers to formally record their qualifications known as the digital skills passport but in essence a register for care workers to log their skills and experience.
And finally theres the question of pay together with terms and conditions for care workers. All the data and the excellent work by Skills for Care tells us that pay and the wider employment package for care workers is a critical factor in recruitment and retention. Now you will know that the Government does not set pay for Care workers nor indeed do local authorities in general. This is a matter for employers.
While increases to the minimum wage has done an important job of driving up pay for those at that level, a significant factor is the rates that Local Authorities pay for care. And those rates must be sufficient for providers to pay staff properly and employ them on fair terms and conditions. Thats one reason why the Government has increased grant funding to local authorities for social care and made up to 8.6 billion available for social care over last year and this. Thats why I have been clear to local authorities about the importance of paying a fair rate for care and commissioning care in a way that supports providers - both in what they pay and to put staff on contracts with guaranteed hours.
Ive been really glad to see that making a difference. Ive heard directly from Local Authorities that the shift were seeing to care workers being put onto contracts with guaranteed hours, and we have the data that tells us that the rates authorities pay for care increase by 9% on average going hand in hand with an expansion of the care workforce by over 20,000, improved retention and with that of course, crucially, the improved supply of care.
Unpaid carers
Now as well as supporting the professional workforce, I also want to talk about what were doing for unpaid carers.
As I mentioned earlier, being an unpaid carer can be hugely rewarding, but it can also be one of the hardest things someone will ever do.
Im sure some of you in the room will have caring responsibilities, as well as what you do in your day-to-day work and will know what that feels like.
Now in government, we cant make being a carer easy. But what we can do, is make sure the support and respite that people need is available.
Last month we announced the first 20 million in funding from the Accelerating Reform Fund which is our scale to innovate approaches to delivering care.
And can I say a thank you to those of you here whove been involved in putting together bids for that fund. These projects will make a real difference to how people and particularly unpaid carers, are supported by our care system.
On the d