The chief executive of Care England has warned there is ‘no pot of gold’ for the social care sector to rely on to deliver government ambitions.
Speaking at the Care England annual conference yesterday, Professor Martin Green reflected on Labour’s early months in government and outlined the future challenges for the social care sector.
NHS and social care ‘do not sit in silos’
Professor Green said the government ‘like every government before it’ had prioritised the NHS in its financial decision-making, failing to recognise ‘the interdependency’ between health and care.
‘What we have got to do as a sector is remind government that these two bits of the system do not sit in silos,’ he told attendees.
‘We must make sure that there is a real understanding that the 21st century, which is about people managing their long-term conditions rather than being cured by them, is a century where social care is going to have to be really important in establishing the support that people need to live good lives,’ he told attendees.
Professor Green pointed to changes set to be introduced through the new government, including the rise in National Insurance contributions (NIC) and the Employment Rights Bill.
Employer NIC are set to rise from April 2025, increasing by 1.2% to 15%.
Professor Green said the move was having an ‘enormous impact on the care sector’, adding: ‘We must do all we can to try and get the government to mitigate that and to fund those national insurance contributions, because I have to say, it is my view that they could tip many organisations into insolvency.’
Earlier this month, the House of Lords voted to exempt social care providers from the increase.
As part of his keynote, Mr Green also warned that the new Employment Rights Bill, which passed last October, would add additional strain to already stretched social care providers.
‘[It] is going to significantly extend employment rights, but also place huge extra costs on care providers,’ he said.
The bill, which is currently undergoing amendments, will introduce a range of changes such as introducing a ‘ban’ on zero hours contracts and requiring employers to provide workers with a reasonable notice of shifts and to pay workers for late changes to working hours, including short-term changes.
‘There’s been a lot of talk about this bill as it’s progressing through Parliament, but the one bit of government that has been silent has been the Treasury,’ said Professor Green.
He added: ‘We need to be clear that the government can do all the things they want to do, but they cannot do them unless they fund them. Funding is absolutely essential.
‘There is no pot of gold in social care that we can raid to deliver on the aspirations the government has.’
Technology
The Care England chief also reflected on the ‘transformational’ rise of AI in social care in recent years, and said the sector must be ‘on the front foot’ of any changes.
‘New technologies are coming in everywhere, and it’s up to us as a sector, to really grasp them and to make sure that we use the ones that make a difference, rather than just thinking that we have to jump into every technology,’ he said.
Digital development is one of the regional priorities of the Midlands Social Care Nursing Advisory Council (SCNAC).
Visa changes
Addressing government changes to international visa schemes – in which direct care workers arriving from overseas were banned from bringing dependents on their visa – Professor Green said this had been a ‘big challenge’ for the sector that would trigger ‘issues’ around recruitment and retention.
In December, figures showed a 65% annual drop in visa grants when compared with data from 2023.
During this time, the number of internationally educated professionals who joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register in the six months to September 2024 was also down 16.6% (-2,501) compared to the same period last year.
Minister for care, Stephen Kinnock, also told the conference that more work is needed to increase retention and grow recruitment in the social care sector.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment
