Reforming Adult Social Care
Integrating Funding, Pay, Employment and Skills Policies in England
Campaign for Learning today publishes a new policy pamphlet on adult social care in England in advance of the expected White Paper on the reform of adult social care.
The report, Reforming Adult Social Care – Integrating Funding, Pay, Employment and Skills Policies in England, is based on seventeen contributions from experts in both the adult social care sector and the post-16 education, skills and employability sectors.
The report brings together, in a single volume of articles on the funding of adult social care, pay and employment in the sector, the role of active labour market policies in filling care vacancies in social care, and the contribution of post-16 education and skills in training and retraining the care workforce of today and tomorrow.
Writing for the pamphlet, Karolina Gerlich of The Care Workers’ Charity says
“The current recruitment and retention crisis is widely believed to be the worst the sector has faced. It is vital to increase efforts around encouraging young people and adults to join the adult care sector.”
National Director of the Campaign for Learning, Julia Wright, says:
“The key message of this policy pamphlet is that the Government needs to set out in its forthcoming White Paper on the reform of adult social care in England, a long-term Integrated Pay, Employment and Skills Plan.”
Julia Wright adds:
“By common consent, the adult care sector is in crisis and is operating in the most extreme of circumstances.
“Covid-19 aside, the starting point for tackling the recruitment and retention crisis in adult social care is to increase gross and take-home pay and improve employment terms and conditions, especially in reducing the number of front- line care workers on zero- hour contracts.
“Better pay and conditions will drive-up demand for jobs in adult social care which in turn will generate more demand for training and retraining by existing workers and potential new entrants including younger people.
“The pay and employment model of the adult social care sector must be reformed as a pre-requisite to raising the professional status of care workers to the levels they so richly deserve.
“A long-term Integrated Pay, Employment and Skills Plan should include a strategy to turn adult social care into a ‘qualified vocation’, building on the strong sense of vocation so many care workers already bring to the sector with a need to hold a license to practice and at least a Level 2 qualification in adult social care to deliver care.”
Campaign for Learning: Proposals for Reform in England
The expert contributions are from The Nuffield Trust, Policy in Practice, TUC , Learning and Work Institute, Institute for Employment Studies, The Care Workers’ Charity, Youth Futures Foundation, ERSA, Education and Training Foundation, The Edge Foundation, Association of Colleges, AELP, Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, HOLEX, WEA and a former college principal.
The proposal for a long-term Integrated, Pay, Employment and Skills Plan is one of twenty-five proposed by the Campaign for Learning to reform adult social care in England.
CfL hopes these will encourage debate and cross-departmental policy making.
1. Devolution in England
The government is expected to publish the Levelling-Up White Paper before the end of the year.
It is possible that County Councils in England will be awarded devolution deals. These county-devo deals could include devolution of Adult Education Budget (AEB) and the future Adult Skills Fund (which covers the AEB and most of the current National Skills Fund).
County Councils in England are already responsible for the funding and delivery of adult social care in England.
Devolution deals for County Councils could mean these local authorities could have responsibility for both the funding and delivery of adult social care and adult skills funding, offering opportunities to increase the availability of training and retraining of adults wishing careers in social care.
2. 16-18 Year-Olds and Careers in Adult Social Care
Working in adult social care is a stressful for adults let alone 16-18 year-olds completing full-time social care further education and apprenticeships. There is a strong case for embedding ‘emotional support and resilience’ training within the delivery of social care courses and apprenticeships so young people are prepared when becoming workers in adult social care.
3. Level 3 T Levels and Adult Social Care Qualifications
The government is embarking on a major reform of vocational Level 3 qualifications for 16-18 year-olds. Before deciding on the defunding of existing Level 3 vocational qualifications in health and social care, the Department for Education, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and Skills for Care should assess whether the T level in Health and Science meets the specific needs of the adult social care sector.
4. Cost of Living Crisis and Adults Training to be Care Workers
The cost-of-living crisis will not just adversely impact on workers in adult social care. It will also affect adults who wish to train to become care workers through part time further education. Free education is not enough to help adult train and retrain in this vital sector of our social economy. Faced with rising inflation, many adults will have to focus on paying their utility bills and higher petrol prices – perhaps by joining other sectors with higher pay – than training and retraining for a career in social care. A system of means-tested living cost bursaries should be introduced to enable adults to cover cost of living increases whilst training and retraining in adult social care.
People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform white paper
Launching the Government’s ten-year vision for adult social care on Wednesday (1 Dec), Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, tweeted:
Campaign for Learning: Proposals for Reform in England in Full
Three themes are common to most of the contributions:
- the scale of the adult social care sector in England,
- the complexity of policy making for the sector, and
- the need for greater integration of funding, pay, employment and skills.
Proposal 1: A long-term ‘Integrated Pay, Employment and Skills’ Plan for adult social care in England
Proposal 2: Turn adult social care into a ‘qualified vocation’
Proposal 3: A ‘Good Work Adult Social Care Employer’ Kitemark jointly developed and promoted by DHSC and DfE and funded by DHSC and Skills for Care
Proposal 4: A DfE and DHSC joint recruitment campaign for 16-18 year-olds into adult social care training and progression into employment
Proposal 5: Treasury Review of the benefits of adult learning for adult social care
Proposal 6: Publication by DfE of an annual statistical release on post-16 participation on health and social care qualifications in England
Proposal 7: Raise awareness by the adult social care sector of the role of adult education in funding and delivering Health and Social Care qualifications
Proposal 8: Government assessment of county devolution deals combining funding and delivery of adult social care and adult skills
Proposal 9: The DfE should introduce an entitlement to free education for adults without a first full Level 2 where they enrol on a full Level 2 Health and Social Care qualification which is funded through the AEB
Proposal 10: The DfE should introduce an entitlement to free education for adults seeking a second full Level 2 where they enrol on a full Level 2 Health and Social Care qualification which is funded through the AEB
Proposal 11: The DfE and DHSC, in association with Skills for Care, should assess the take-up of the adult entitlement to free education for a first full Level 3 taken as a full Level 3 qualification in Health and Social Care
Proposal 12: The DfE, DHSC and Skills for Care should create a Partnership to support the government’s trial of free education to reskill at Level 3 for low waged workers in adult social care
Proposal 13: The DHSC and Skills for Care should use the Workforce Development Fund in conjunction with the Adult Education Budget to co-fund higher waged adults with a Level 3 to reskill in adult social care at Level 3
Proposal 14: The DfE and DHSC should request extra funding for adult education to fund adult social care training and retraining as part of Budget 2022
Proposal 15: The DWP should allow unemployed adults to receive Universal Credit for up to 52 weeks to gain a first full Level 2 qualification in Health and Social Care
Proposal 16: The DHSC and Skills for Care should introduce cost of living bursary grants financed through the Workforce Development Fund and administered through FE providers to adults on Level 2 and Level 3 adult social care courses
Proposal 17: The DHSC and DfE should develop a plan to encourage more adult social care employers to sign onto the Apprenticeship Digital Service
Proposal 18: The DfE should remove the co-funding requirement of 5% for non-levying paying adult social care employers supporting adult apprentices on Level 2 and Level 3 social care apprenticeships
Proposal 19: Extend cash incentives for adult social care employers taking on apprentices through the Workforce Development Fund
Proposal 20: Building emotional support into Health and Social Care Qualifications and work placements for young people
Proposal 21: DfE in association with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and Skills for Care should determine whether the existing T Level in Health and Science meets the specific needs of the adult social care sector
Proposal 22: The DfE, DHSC and Skills for Care should work with adult learning providers to extend entry and Level 1 Qualifications for adult social care whilst promoting a more professional workforce
Proposal 23: The DfE should carefully consider the impacts of the Review of Level 2 Qualifications on improving the professional status of adult social care workers
Proposal 24: The DfE and DHSC should work with Skills for Care to measure progression from Level 2 and Level 3 Health and Social Care Pathways into adult social care jobs
Proposal 25: Chairs and members of the Education and Health and Social Care select committees should consider a joint inquiry into Adult Social Care
Responses