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Get Social Care Done: Future Social Care Coalition to launch Social Care People Plan Framework

It’s time to get social care done and for the Government to bring forward its promised
proposals for social care reform starting with workforce reform.

That’s the message coming from a cross-party group of politicians – including current
and former health and social care ministers, health and social care select committee
chairs, social care employers, employees and users, and industry experts – who will
be launching a new Social Care People Plan Framework to deliver better respect,
reward and regulation for those working on the ‘forgotten frontline’.

The plan will include 12 recommendations to Government including on issues such as
registration and professionalisation; wages and working conditions; skills and
training opportunities. The plan has been developed with input from all parts of the
sector so no social care worker is left behind. The social care sector is larger than the
NHS – 1.6million compared to 1.5million – but there is no workforce strategy.

The cross-party group of Parliamentarians, including Chair of the Health and Social
Care Committee and former health and social care minister Jeremy Hunt MP, leader
of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP and shadow health and social care minister Liz
Kendall MP, will come together at the Future Social Care Coalition’s (FSCC) Summer
Summit on 24 June to make the wider economic case for improving pay, conditions
and career progression for social care and support workers.

The event, which is the first of its kind, will see politicians, social care users, workers
and employers make the economic case for putting the social care sector on a
sustainable long term footing It is a vitally important sector which employs 6% of the
entire workforce and is worth £46 billion to the economy annually.

Phil Hope, former Minister of State for Care Services and co-chair of the Future Social
Care Coalition, said:

“The FSCC Summer Summit will give social care workers, users and industry
experts an opportunity to shape and inform the Government’s Queen’s Speech
promise to support the development of the adult social care workforce. It
provides an opportunity to engage with those working in the sector about how
best to support them.

“The pandemic has shone a light on the widening gap between how we treat
our social care workforce compared to colleagues in the NHS. There is an
urgent need to level up the social care workforce with an immediate funding
boost and in the long term the sector needs major reform. Many people will
need social care at some point in their lives which is why we need to act now to
overhaul how the sector, and its workforce, is treated.

“At the Summit we will be demonstrating the economic benefits of parity,
respect and fairness for the social care workforce and make the case that the
time for action is clearly now not later.”

Established in 2020 to fight for a fair deal for under-valued social care workers, the
Future Social Care Coalition is calling on Government to take immediate action to
deliver:

• Parity of esteem for the social care sector with the NHS: if social care is to
improve and increase health and wellbeing outcomes, the social care service
must no longer be treated as the ‘forgotten frontline’
• A comprehensive social care workforce strategy designed to generate skills
training, professionalism and improve pay and conditions for social care
workers
• A substantial and immediate funding boost for social care and, in the longer
term, a social care funding solution that is both equitable and sustainable

The Future Social Care Summer Summit (24 June) will be a major conference to make
the economic case for social care reform. The Summit will build on the consensus
achieved at the FSCC Social Care People Plan Conference, launch a Social Care
People Plan Framework to submit to Government and make the economic case for a
fair deal ahead of the Spending Review. Tickets are available via EventBrite.

Find out more about the Future Social Care Coalition and follow the FSCC on Twitter
for updates.

Join us for the FSCC Summer Summit

VIEW THE DRAFT AGENDA HERE.

We very much hope that you will join us at the Future Social Care Summer Summit on the 24th June and help us make the economic case for social care workforce reform and get social care done.

This major Summit will provide a timely and important opportunity to shape and inform the Government’s promise to bring forward proposals for reform social care referenced in the Queen’s Speech which included the statement: “Our adult social care workforce underpins improvement of the social care system, and it is critical to support their development. We will listen and engage with staff groups about how to best support them.” It will therefore focus attention on the urgent need to level-up the social care workforce and that this must be a pre-cursor to wider social care reform.

The Health and Care Bill, which raises the prospect of, but seems unlikely to deliver, parity between – and integration of – NHS and social care services, gives some added urgency to progressing social care reform as it starts its passage through Parliament. Our Social Care Summer Summit will, in the wake of the pandemic, demonstrate the economic benefits of parity, respect and fairness for the social care workforce and make the case that the time for action is clearly now not later.

The Social Care Summer Summit will also build on the outputs and consensus achieved at the FSCC Social Care People Plan Conference earlier in this year and will launch a Social Care People Plan Framework to submit to Government and will make the economic case for a fair deal for social care ahead of the Autumn Spending Review.

KEY THEMES

• In the wake of the pandemic, the case for parity, respect and fairness in social care is overwhelming AND the time for action is clearly now not later
• Demonstrate why social care is a BIG issue which affects us all – at some point in our lives – and why Government need to act
• Call on Government for immediate progress on social care reform including for the Spending Review to commit considerable funding in order to make seismic reform to the workforce
• Highlight how important the social care sector is for the economy (£46 billion and 1.6 million employees – 6% of the total) and why social care is “broken” (i.e. does not work well for carers, employers, local government and, most of all, users)
• Emphasise that this is a future growth sector of the economy, potentially aiding the recovery, with estimates that employees will need to increase by 520,000 in the next 15 years
• Set out what is required to put the social care sector on a sustainable footing so vacancy and turnover rates are low, staff retention and growth are high – and launch a Social Care People’s Plan Framework at the Summer Summit

If you have any questions regarding the Summit or would like to find out how to join the FSCC, please get in touch with [email protected]

Write Up: Time for a Social Care People Plan Conference

Thursday 11th February

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Upcoming Events

Join us for our Summer Summit on 24th June – sign up here

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Previous Meetings

Time for a Social Care People Plan Conference, Thursday 11th February

Click here to watch the Opening Plenary session

Click here to watch Mini Summit One: Looking after our people

Click here to watch Mini Summit Two: Belonging in social care

Click here to watch Mini Summit Three: New ways of working and delivering social care

Click here to watch Mini Summit Four: Growing for the future

Click here to watch the Closing Plenary session

Pay Fair for Care’ Day of Action, Wednesday 3rd February

Click here to watch the full recording.

Future Social Care Coalition Launch: Time for a Fair Deal  Monday 2nd November

Click here to watch the full recording.

Social Care Sounding Board Meeting | 5th August 2020