Social care Workforce Strategy launches as vacancy rates three times that of wider economy

New data shows the social care sector still has a vacancy rate around three times higher than the wider economy as a new Workforce Strategy launches.

Data released alongside the plan shows that England will need 540,000 additional social care posts by 2040 if the workforce is to grow in line with the increase in the number people over the age of 65 in the population. That number is expected to grow most sharply over the next decade, so we will need 430,000 extra posts by 2035.

The adult social care workforce in England was shown to grow for the second consecutive year, following a drop after Brexit and the pandemic, to 1.71 million filled posts – an increase of 4.2%, or 77,000 filled posts. Despite this small increase, the size of the workforce is not meeting the rising demand as data showed the current vacancy rate at 8.3% – still around 3 times that of other sectors in the economy, despite the number of vacant posts on any given day falling by 22,000.

The Workforce Strategy aims to improve the quality of roles in adult social care, ensuring that the sector can attract and keep enough people with the right skills and values to provide the best possible care and support for the people who draw on it.

Skills for Care – the workforce development body for adult social care in England – led on the development of the Strategy, in collaboration with a number of organisations working in the sector like the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the British Association of Social Workers (BASW).

The Workforce Strategy is designed to complement the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which was published last year. Like the NHS Plan, the Workforce Strategy covers the next 15 years. Its three areas of focus are attraction and retention, training and transformation, in line with the main themes of the NHS Plan.

The Strategy was not commissioned by government, but the sector wants to work with the new Government as it develops its plans for social care, with recommendations including action to improve pay, terms and conditions for care workers, continuing to invest in training and clear career pathways. The plan also recommends introducing legislation to mandate strategic workforce planning and create a central body – outside of, but directed and supported by, government – to drive delivery.

The Strategy includes independent modelling of three different options to improve pay: increasing compliance with the National Living Wage and paying care workers for travel time, a minimum wage for carers of the Real Living Wage or £1 or £2 above the National Living Wage - and aligning with NHS pay bands.

The level of annual state investment required for these proposals, however, varies from an eye-watering £4 billion for aligning pay for care workers with 2 or more years’ experience to NHS pay band 3 to £30 million for increasing National Living Wage compliance and paying for travel time. Skills for Care however estimates that all the options would generate considerable savings for the NHS and in terms of reduced recruitment costs for employers.

Professor Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care and co-chair of the Workforce Strategy Steering Group, said the launch was a “turning point for social care”.

“The case for change is clear. We’re going to need hundreds of thousands more care workers, with the right skills and values, over the next 15 years – yet right now the sector still has a vacancy rate around three times higher than that of the wider economy and is struggling to compete in local job markets.”

The reaction from sector leaders has been one of optimism, but crucially requires the Government to implement the proposals for any real impact.

Maris Stratulis, National Director for BASW England who collaborated on the strategy, welcomed the release.

“BASW England members will be eager to engage in further collaboration and cross-sector engagement to support this work ahead of any proposed implementation.

“As part of this work we will continue to champion the essential role of social workers within the broader care workforce and advocate for a long-term strategy that prioritises significant investment in developing the social work workforce.”

Meanwhile, the Local Government Association (LGA) said it hopes the Government “takes note of the valuable work Skills for Care have done and the recommendations they are making.“

“Care worker pay urgently needs an uplift to help fill the tens of thousands of vacancies across the country, councils and care providers need support in recruiting the right people to do this crucial work. Councils are calling a long-term care workforce plan, alongside immediate investment in adult social care to tackle the urgent issues affecting services,” they said in a statement.