A new roadmap for a sustainable future for adult social care has been published by Care England.

The Care For Our Future report calls on the next government to introduce a £15 per hour minimum salary for care workers within two years among its recommendations.

Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England, said: “Adult social care affects all of us. From the vital care and support delivered to our loved ones to the £51.5 billion contributed to the English economy every year, all our futures depend on a well-resourced and resilient sector. This roadmap harnesses the sector’s talent and enthusiasm to provide a blueprint for the next government to move us towards the sustainable future our sector and society so desperately needs.”

The report calls on the next government to:

Within 100 days:

• Mandate the professional registration of adult social care staff in England
• Zero-rate VAT for welfare services in England
• Mandate direct adult social care representation at all ICS levels in England.

Within two years:

• Implement a fully-funded £15 minimum care wage and develop parity of esteem with NHS staff
• Close the Fair Cost of Care funding gap and repeat the exercise at a sector-wide level
• Publish a strategy for hospital discharge which introduces a national tariff of £1,500 per week.

Within five years:

• Consolidate reforms within a fully-funded, long-term adult social care workforce plan
• Deliver a long-term adult social care funding settlement, with a £10 billion annual funding boost
• Deliver a fully mapped prevention and integration plan.

Green continues: “The recommendations are pragmatic, realistic and would deliver meaningful impact. This includes a multi-billion pound boost to the economy, shorter NHS waiting times and care work becoming a valued and rewarded career. It is incumbent upon the incoming government, whatever their political persuasion, to put the future of adult social care at the heart of its vision for the country and this roadmap represents the foundations on which to do so.”

Beverley Tarka, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said: “We agree with Care England’s report that whatever our next government’s colour, social care reform is a key issue it needs to address in the first term. Alongside our own Roadmap to transform adult social care published in April, this helpful addition outlines practical steps to make that happen over the next five to ten years.

“Central to this is solving the current care staffing crisis by improving pay and conditions for care workers and valuing this work fairly. We also want to see a shift to community support to keep people well at home and out of hospital and more support for unpaid carers. Long-term, we need a fully-funded plan to support us all to live well, work and care.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to our 10-year vision to reform adult social care. Our Next Steps to put People at the Heart of Care plan sets out how we are spending £700 million over two years, including £250 million for the workforce to develop their skills and careers, on top of our £7.5 billion investment to help reduce adult social care waiting times and increase capacity.

“Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay however, we have raised the national living wage by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over.”

The full Care For Our Future report is accessible here.

A full list of stakeholder endorsements is accessible here.