A breakdown of what the leading political parties in England have to say about social care in their manifestos.
TONIGHT (Tuesday 18th June at 23:59) is your last chance to register to vote in the general election on the 4th July. You can register to vote online here.
When faced with empty soundbites on repeat and mud-slinging party politics, it can be hard to find the patience to stay engaged with this key moment for democracy, let alone to know where each political party stands in relation to issues you care about.
Homecare Workers' Group has digested the manifestos from each of the leading political parties in England to find out what is on offer for social care. Below is a breakdown, with all text lifted word-for-word from the relevant party's manifesto. The parties appear in alphabetical order. We hope you find this helpful for informing your vote on the 4th July. Let's make sure the voices of the 1.2 million + direct care workers in England are heard.
Conservatives
We will implement our planned reforms to cap social care costs from October 2025
At the next Spending Review, we will give local authorities a multi-year funding settlement to support social care
Take forward the reforms in our ‘People at the Heart of Care’ White Paper
Green Party
Push for investment of £20bn to:
Introduce free personal care along the lines successfully brought in by the Scottish Government, to ensure dignity in old age and for the disabled.
Increase pay rates and introduce a career structure for carers to rebuild the care workforce
Labour
Labour will undertake a programme of reform to create a National Care Service, underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. Services will be locally delivered, with a principle of ‘home first’ that supports people to live independently for as long as possible
Labour will develop local partnership working between the NHS and social care on hospital discharge
We will enhance partnership working across employers, workers, trade unions and government and establish a Fair Pay Agreement in adult social care. This sector collective agreement will set fair pay, terms and conditions, along with training standards. Labour will consult widely on the design of this agreement, before beginning the process and learn from countries where they operate successfully.
As part of the efforts to move healthcare into local communities and professionalise the workforce, we will task regulators with assessing the role social care workers can play in basic health treatment and monitoring.
Liberal Democrats
Provide truly personalised care that empowers individuals by:
Trialling personal health and social care budgets so that individuals are in control of what care they receive.
Rolling out digital platforms for care users to develop networks, relationships and opportunities, connecting with care workers, friends and family, voluntary groups and more.
Improving communication standards so carers can support care users to co-produce and monitor care plans.
Developing a digital strategy for tech-enabled lives.
Establishing an Independent Living Taskforce to help people live independently in their own homes, as set out in chapter 10.
End the postcode lottery of service provision and provide national, high-quality care for everyone who needs it by:
Providing predictable, consistent funding for free personal care.
Increasing transparency and accountability as to how money is spent through local authorities.
Creating a National Care Agency to set national minimum standards of care.
Enabling individuals to transfer their care package so they don’t feel stuck in their current locality due to their care needs.
Give unpaid carers a fair deal by:
Increasing Carer’s Allowance and expanding eligibility for it, as set out in chapter 10.
Introducing a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks for unpaid carers.
Introducing paid carer’s leave, building on the entitlement to unpaid leave secured by the Liberal Democrats.
Making caring a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and requiring employers to make reasonable adjustments to enable employees with caring responsibilities to provide that care.
Introducing a Young Carers Pupil Premium as part of an ‘Education Guarantee’ for young carers.
Make careers in social care more attractive and value experienced staff to improve retention by:
Creating a new Carer’s Minimum Wage, boosting the minimum wage for care workers by £2 an hour, as a starting point for improved pay across the sector.
Creating clear career pathways, linked to recommended pay scales, which put an end to the undervaluing of skills in the sector.
Creating a career ladder to allow flexibility to work across the NHS and social care, allowing staff to gain experience in both.
Creating a Royal College of Care Workers to represent this skilled workforce.
Expanding the NHS Digital Staff Passport to include the care sector.
Recruit more staff to the sector with a social care workforce plan, akin to the NHS England workforce plan, that includes ethical international recruitment.
Support people to age well by:
Establishing a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing.
Rolling out active ageing programmes and trips and falls assessments for everyone over the age of 75 to prevent falls, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and promote healthy ageing.
Opening fracture liaison services so that osteoporosis patients can get the treatment they need and prevent long-term issues and costs.
Make care experience a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 to strengthen the rights of people who are in or have been in care.
Refresh the national strategy for loneliness collaboratively with service providers and people who have lived experience of loneliness, to be overseen by a dedicated Minister for Tackling Loneliness.
Reform
Commence Royal Commission of Inquiry into Social Care System.
Streamlining and simplifying through a single funding stream, not split between NHS and Local Authorities is essential.
Improved regulation is required for this vital service which is part of UK PLC’s infrastructure.
Additional funding will be required when a national plan is agreed.
Stop the Offshore Taxpayer Rip Off.
Some larger care home providers avoiding tax on hundreds of millions of profits through complex offshore property company structures and high interest shareholder loans. At the same time they pay minimal wages to front line care staff.
Thank you for reading
To make sure you are able to cast your vote on the 4th July, register here before 22:59 THIS EVENING on Tuesday 18th June. You can choose to vote in person, via the post or by getting a nominated person to vote for you.
If you plan to vote in person then remember to bring along a valid form of photo ID on the day (e.g. driving license or passport) otherwise you won't be allowed to vote. If you don't have a form of photo ID, you must apply for a Voter ID Certificate here by 5pm next Wednesday 26th June.
Finally if you are one of the 625,000 home care workers in England, then do join us at Homecare Workers' Group. We are a free, independent support network run by and for homecare workers with regular online and in-person meetups and a secure online group.
Through the group you will find a supportive community of people who are in the same boat as you at work, paid opportunities to participate in relevant research and the chance to shape campaigns which seek to improve social care in England. Just follow the two steps on the homepage to join.
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