Care providers and stakeholders have responded with ‘dismay’ following the government’s announcement that social care workforce funding is being halved.

In its ‘refreshed plan to bolster the social care workforce’, the DHSC said £250 million was being invested on workforce training over three years compared with £500 million previously pledged in the government white paper in December 2021.

The DHSC also announced £100 million for the digitisation of the care sector, adding £50 million of the £150 million previously confirmed had already been spent.

Whereas the government previously announced £300 million to integrate housing into local health and social care strategies the refreshed plan only includes £102 million over two years to help people stay at home.

There was also no mention of a previously pledged £25 million to support unpaid carers.

The DHSC said up to £600 million had not been allocated and would be released “soon”.

Reaction

Rachael Dodgson, chief executive at not-for-profit support provider Dimensions, said: “‘Dismayed’ does not begin to describe our reaction to the £250 million cut to the social care workforce.

“With an average vacancy rate of 21% and significant limitations to the home office sponsorship scheme, the priority must be recruitment and retention. Here at Dimensions we are determined to pay our staff at a level they deserve and have implemented three pay awards in the last year, but we’re restricted in going further by tough limits on local authority budgets.

 “We won’t be deterred. We will continue to call for support worker pay to be aligned to NHS Band 3, a benchmark that reflects the skills required, and will stop our dedicated workforce being treated as second class citizens.”

Sarah McClinton, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: “This plan leaves the government’s vision for reform in tatters. It ducks the hard decisions and kicks the can down the road again until after the next election. £600 million is being held back from the £1.7 billion of reform programmes the government announced last year. But adult social care is in crisis, with staff vacancies at an all-time high and half a million people waiting for care and support. Now’s not the time to be holding funding back, it needs to reach people who need care and support as soon as possible.”

Helen Wildbore, director of the Relatives & Residents Association, said: “The lack of urgency from the government as the social care system crumbles is deeply concerning. People face a battle to get the support they need and their basic rights met. It is people needing care who suffer as their safety, dignity and wellbeing are put at risk. Their families suffer too, as they are expected to step in and fill the gaps. We need urgent action to end this crisis, not a rowing back on promises.”

Bhavna Keane-Rao, managing director of BKR Care Consultancy, told us: “It is hugely disappointing to see the cut in funding for social care workforce development announced this morning. This vital fund to enhance training provision and digitise the sector went some way toward counterbalancing the lack of appropriate placement funding in terms of developing the sector. Whilst the government have repeatedly failed to provide what is promised to our sector, the short-sighted approach to this cut is obvious to those in the sector. More digitalisation would reduce the frictions between social care and health and reduce hospital admissions and duplication of work. Better trained staff further reduce such admissions and provide better care. This cut will eventually cost the taxpayer more in the long term.”

Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, said: “The sector is suffering demise by a thousand cuts and the people who will suffer most are the 1.6 million people who cannot get care and the hundreds of thousands more who are finding they need help and support, every day.”

Padgham also expressed his anger at the delay to social care reform, commenting: “It cannot be acceptable that government after government keeps on delaying reform to the social care sector.

“We are now being told that plans will be announced ‘within weeks’ – how many times have we been told that before? And that will just be the plan – we could wait months or even years for reform to begin.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive at NHS Providers said: “It’s hugely disappointing that funding for the social care workforce has been halved. This comes as capacity in the sector is at its lowest with 165,000 staff vacancies due to recruitment and retention challenges. “Social care staff deliver vital work, supporting people to stay independent in the community and preventing the need for hospital care. Worryingly, the additional funding for housing and unpaid carers promised in the adult social care white paper has also been cut.

“The focus on digitisation, regulation and better data is positive, but will need appropriate resource and expertise.

“The social care sector urgently needs sustainable funding and reform, but the longer we wait for this, the more pressure will be put on the entire health and care system. And while funding for discharges through the Better Care Fund is welcome, its impact will be limited without more investment in the social care workforce.

“The government must recognise the vital role social care plays in keeping people well at, or closer to, home and reflect this with adequate funding and support.”