Wide ranging plans to improve career prospects for care workers have been announced by the government.

Backed by £75 million in funding, the measures in partnership with Skills for Care include the launch of a Care Workforce Pathway.

Minister for social care, Helen Whately, said: “The workforce is the heartbeat of the social care sector and staff should be given the recognition and opportunities they deserve. These changes will give brilliant care workers the chance to develop rewarding careers in social care.

“There are also many talented people across the country who would thrive in care work but haven’t seen it as a career choice. We’re changing that; our new career path and qualifications recognise social care as the skilled profession it is.”

The plans include: £50 million to support up to 37,000 care workers to enrol on the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification between June 2024 and March 2025; £20 million for local authorities and care providers for social work and nurse apprenticeships; an uplift to the Workforce Development Fund to expand access to learning and development; and a new digital leadership qualification.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “This package of measures, including the Care Workforce Pathway, is an opportunity to be an asset to the sector and has the potential to make it a more attractive sector to work in.

“The value of enhancing our domestic workforce can’t be understated, particularly as we lost over 50,000 domestic workers last year which were replaced by 70,000 international recruits. This value has only become greater in light of the changes made by the Home Office to the international recruitment route late last year.”

Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, welcomed the career pathway and more funding for training and qualifications but said the government was ignoring the issue of proper pay.

“Our major concern remains the elephant in the room and that is pay,” Padgham said.

“Until we can find a way to pay staff properly for the fantastic job that they do, everything else will be just tinkering at the edges of the problem.”

UNISON head of social care Gavin Edwards echoed Padgham’s calls for better pay and the need for structural reform, commenting: “These changes are hardly the plan to fix social care that was promised four-and-a-half years ago. What’s needed is the proper reform that can only come from a national care service.”