Major announcements for sector

Employment Rights Bill – The government has set out the most significant changes to employment rights in a generation.  The Employment Rights Bill has been set out to improve the rights of workers in the UK.

Nicola McLeish, CEO of Surrey Care Association says “At SCA, we welcome enhancements to pay and conditions which may support recruitment and retention issues in our sector, but we question the cost of this and how this will be funded without creating significant financial pressures or even business cessation as a consequence for small businesses in particular.”

The whole of chapter (2) covers Adult Social Care including the development of an “Adult Social Care Negotiating Body”  with a specific remit around remuneration and terms and conditions for social care workers specifically.

The key aims of this Bill is to end zero-hour contracts, establish rights to leave entitlement on paternity, parental and bereavement leave from day one of employment contract. It also covers removal of the two year window of protecting employers against claims of unfair dismissal,  a consultation on a new statutory probationary period to ensure new employees are the right fit for the service, and a “right to switch” off to protect employees from out of hours demands from employers.

The Bill also looks to ensure that flexible working practices are the default where practical, and statutory sick pay to be enhanced.  It intends to develop a Fair Work Agency to enforce employee rights and offer them guidance.  This Bill is the start of a much bigger intended programme of employment reform.

Skills for Care Workforce Report – Skills for Care has published its report on the state of the workforce for adult social care, highlighting the most important indicators, trends and changes. The report uses adult social care data up to March 2023.

Surrey Care Association Workforce Manager Ginny Collins commented:

“Although the report suggests reasons to be positive the situation is still enormously challenging for providers, and the positive trends around recruitment and gender balance will be affected by declining international recruitment. The report shows that training, qualifications and pay are positive influential factors on retention and CQC ratings, and we’ll be using this to help our members motivate staff to stay in their jobs, and to bolster our campaign for more investment in social care.”

House of Lords Social Care Debate – the debate was really in depth and there was a clear recognition from many that further funding to support social care is essential.  The debate lasted well over two hours, much more than other tabled items.

Baroness Tyler Enfield Liberal Democrat – opened the debate on ASC in the House of Lords, saying:  ‘Social care is a hugely valuable service – it is not an adjunct to the NHS, Yes fixing it will help NHS address its problems…but bailing the NHS out is not its primary purpose.’’

Institute For Fiscal Studies Adult Social Care report
The Institute For Fiscal Studies also released a report on the state of adult social care. It highlighted the ‘unresolved’ issues in social care funding and reform.

Key links:

• Employment Rights Bill 
• https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Lords – to watch back
• Localgov.co.uk give a summary on the IFS report*unsplash/SCA