Government funding announced to help councils battle social care issues

A £600m package has been announced to help target recruitment and retention issues within social care to help ease pressures on councils budgets. 

The fund is also set to support the social care workforce and boost capacity in the sector, in turn supporting the NHS ahead of winter and through into next year.

Following this, the government is encouraging local health and care systems to prepare jointly for the winter months earlier this year, after the severe winter crisis that hit the NHS last winter.

The £600 million funding for adult social care includes a £570 million workforce fund over two years distributed to local authorities, and £30 million funding for councils in the most challenged health systems.

This funding follows the social care workforce reforms announced earlier this year, and sits alongside the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. The government said the new funding would help improve recruitment and retention and boost workforce capacity for the future.

Whately said: ‘Hundreds of thousands of older people, disabled people and their carers depend day in, day out on our social care workforce. Care workers deserve a brighter spotlight to recognise and support what they do. That’s why we’re reforming social care careers and backing our brilliant care workforce with millions in extra funding.

‘Our workforce reforms will help more people pursue rewarding careers in social care with nationally recognised qualifications. Our investment in social care means more funding to go to the front line. This matters, because support for our care workforce is the key to more care and better care.

‘A stronger social care system, hand in hand with our NHS, will help people get the care they need, when and where they need it.’

Melanie Weatherley, chair of the Care Association Alliance, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome the announcement of additional funding to support the adult social care workforce. It is particularly pleasing that this support covers two years, enabling the sector to develop effective longer-term initiatives.’

Oonagh Smyth, chief executive of Skills for Care, added: ‘Support for local authorities to improve capacity in social care will help ensure that we can attract and keep more of the right people with the right skills. This is vitally important because our latest figures show that there were around 152,000 vacancies on any given day in 2022-23. Improved capacity ultimately means a better experience for the people who draw on care and support.’

Image: Konstantin Evdokimov