In a speech yesterday Andy Burnham promised that there will not just be ‘fair pay’ in social care but ‘bigger reform to improve the workforce’. He said that this could include a restructure to make pay work as it does in the NHS, ‘progression routes’ from care to the health service and even thinking about NHS and care ‘as one workforce’. This builds on the ‘fair pay agreement’ (FPA) which Keir Starmer’s government was working on, which is planned to take effect from April 2028. 

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Burnham said after his speech that much of this will be ‘possible within existing resources’ and without breaking the 2024 manifesto pledges to freeze income tax and national insurance. Leaving aside his other plans for social care, how credible is it to raise the incomes of 1.6 million workers in England without raising taxes?

The FPA is designed to help care workers collectively bargain with employers to raise their incomes. It is hoped that this will help some of the longstanding retention problems in the sector. The mechanism for doing this will be the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body (ASCNB), which will convene employers and trade unions to decide pay........

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