The Care Workers’ Charity: Workforce Advocacy

As the only UK Charity for care workers we are invited to represent the care worker perspective at government roundtables, academic centres and policy forums.

We use this position to share what we hear from our grant applicants day in and day out, ensuring that people are considering the impact of their decisions on the workforce and quality of care. We push for four key policy changes – improved pay, professionalisation via registration, full funding from central government, and improved recognition of value.

Our Policy Priorities

1. Improved pay for care workers in the UK
  • All care workers in the UK to be paid as a legal minimum the Real Living Wage as set by Living Wage Foundation (https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage)
  • DHSC to ensure that Local Authorities are able to pay a fair cost of care that specifies a Real Living Wage for care workers.
  • Regulators to include care worker pay and wellbeing in their assessments of registered care providers in the UK.
  • Home care workers to no longer be expected to pay out of their own pockets for fuel and transport between appointments.
2. Professionalisation via registration in England
  • Introduce compulsory registration for English care workers, as is already in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • Establish a national professional body for care workers to foster a sense of belonging and provide advice and support, governance, education and advocacy.
  • Create a national training framework for social care with clear opportunities for development and progression.
  • Offer training and opportunities to gain qualifications for people who receive Carers Allowance.
3. Full funding from central government
  • Government to increase central funding for social care to cover a fair cost of care for providers and Local Authorities.
  • Fairer split of funds between NHS and Social Care which values prevention, ensuring that people do not rely on emergency care.
  • Government to deliver a UK-wide annual survey of care workers, and publish workforce data as they do for the NHS.
  • Increased Carers Allowance and support for unpaid carers, and improved childcare allowances for care workers.
4. Improved recognition of value
  • Work towards parity of esteem and pay for care workers with their counterparts in the NHS.
  • Improve public awareness of care work and showcase the value that social care brings to the economy and society.
  • Create pathways for young people to explore careers in social care and subsidise care qualifications for school leavers.
  • Focus on retention and value people who already work in care – recognising expertise and time served through improved pay and job titles.

For more information about our Workforce Advocacy programme and how you can get involved, please email our Policy and Development Manager, Rosie rosie@thecwc.org.uk