Adult social care workers in England will be represented in national negotiations on pay, terms and conditions through a new adult social care negotiating body, which the Government says will deliver the sector's first Fair Pay Agreement (FPA).
The new body - to be established by the end of the year - will bring together employer and trade union representatives to negotiate on behalf of the sector, the government said in an announcement today, giving care workers and providers voting rights on pay, terms and conditions, and wider employment matters through a regular negotiation process.
An independent chair will be appointed in early 2027 to oversee negotiations, it added.
The reforms form part of the Employment Rights Act intended to give care workers a stronger voice on employment issues. The first Fair Pay Agreement is backed by £500 million of government funding and is expected to take effect in 2028-29.
Department of Health and Social Care care minister Stephen Kinnock said the move would ensure 1.5 million care workers get "a voice and a fair deal", alongside improved rights, training opportunities and career progression.
Workforce pathway expansion
Alongside the Fair Pay Agreement announcement, the Government confirmed an expansion of the Care Workforce Pathway, which it described as the first universal career structure for adult social care. The expanded pathway will cover almost all adult social care roles that are not health or social work professions.
Responding to the announcement, Skills for Care chief executive Professor Oonagh Smyth said the adult social care workforce deserved to be rewarded in ways that support career progression, learning and development, recruitment and retention, and called for negotiations to be informed by reliable data and evidence, and appropriate support to help the sector's 19,000 care providers implement any agreement.
She also welcomed the expansion of the Care Workforce Pathway, saying employers reported it was already helping them recruit staff, reduce agency spending and improve workforce confidence and job satisfaction.
The Local Government Association welcomed confirmation that directly employed council adult social care staff would remain part of the National Joint Council "Green Book" collective bargaining arrangements. However, its health and wellbeing committee chair Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor MBE warned that proposed funding for a Fair Pay Agreement may not be sufficient to cover full costs involved, and called for reassurance that councils would be fully reimbursed for any additional costs, and urged ministers to include local government in decision-making to avoid risks to care provision and council finances.
