The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has called for higher pay for care workers to fix the sector’s workforce problems.

In its annual report the MAC said paying all care workers in the UK properly through a significant increase in public funds was the only long-term sustainable solution to workforce issues.

The MAC said it was “deeply disappointed that the UK government continue to exhibit no ambition in this area”.

The independent public body repeated its recommendation to introduce a minimum rate of pay for care workers initially at £1 above the National Living Wage where care is provided by public funds.

“To date, the government has not responded to or implemented any of these other recommendations as part of a social care package,” the body noted.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, told Caring Times: “The MAC’s call for high wages is something which the sector would be happy to endorse. The problem is that the majority of services are funded via local authority commissioning, which is at a pitifully low level and does not give us the capacity to increase wages to the level that this work deserves.”

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The care sector is a lifeline for so many people. Yet there’s still no plan to fix social care, more than four years after a Conservative prime minister said he had one. 

“The government seems intent on worsening the crisis by playing politics with migrant workers’ lives, rather than tackling record vacancies.

“Care work is highly skilled. The sector needs a long-term funding plan that significantly boosts wages and offers a career path with training.

“A National Care Service would be the best way to help millions of families who need this vital support.”