By SHAUN WOOLLER, EXECUTIVE HEALTH EDITOR Published: 14:35 BST, 30 September 2025 | Updated: 14:41 BST, 30 September 2025
A new negotiating body comprised of trade unions and employers will help end ‘poverty pay and zero hours exploitation’ for care workers, Wes Streeting has said.The health and social care secretary today pledged £500million of funding to boost pay and conditions in the sector and described it as ‘just the start’.In his speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, he said: ‘So long as I hold this office, it will be the mission of this Labour government to build a National Care Service worthy of the name.’But trade union Unison, which describes itself as the biggest care union in the UK, insisted ‘substantially more’ will be needed to deliver on his promise.And the Health Foundation think tank said the funding could amount to approximately 20p extra per hour.Mr Streeting’s new ‘Fair Pay Agreement’ will establish a new negotiating body that brings together social care employers and trade unions in England.The initial investment will mean that by 2028, care workers will expect to see a boost in their yearly wages, Labour said.Mr Streeting will launch a public consultation on the design of the fair pay agreement process, which is being legislated for in the Employment Rights Bill. Health and social care secretary Wes StreetingFollowing this, the Government will establish an adult social care negotiating body and its processes through regulations in 2026, with the first fair pay agreement coming into force in 2028.The £500 million has been newly allocated from the £4 billion increase to adult social care in 2028/2029 that Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in June.Lucinda Allen, policy fellow at the Health Foundation, said: ‘Fair pay agreements have the potential to be transformative but ambition must be matched by investment.‘Today’s announcement of £500 million funding for the first Fair Pay Agreement in social care in England will not be enough to provide a meaningful boost in staff pay.‘Shared evenly between the 1.5 million workers in the sector, for example, it could amount to roughly 20p extra per hour each.‘Our analysis suggests £2.3 billion would be required in 2028/29 to increase pay to the level of clinical support workers and administrative workers in the NHS.’Care England, which represents many providers of adult social care, suggested the funding would equate to even less, at just 15p extra per hour.Its chief executive, Professor Martin Green, said: ‘While the creation of a Fair Pay Agreement represents a long-awaited acknowledgement that care work is a skilled profession deserving of fair reward, today’s announcement does little to deliver any meaningful change for our workforce.‘It is a shame that after so many promises, the outcome amounts to as little as 15 pence per hour if focused solely on pay; something that will make little difference in practice by the people who keep this sector running.’Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association, said while she supports the principle of a fair pay agreement ‘good intentions aren’t enough’.She said: ‘The funding announced today barely scratches the surface of the multi‑billion‑pound gap in homecare.‘Most public bodies continue to commission homecare at rates far below the cost of delivering it and that simply isn’t sustainable.‘Trying to deliver a fair pay agreement without fair funding is like promising to fill the potholes but only buying the shovel.‘It’s a fool’s errand.‘For a Fair Pay Agreement to succeed, we must fix the funding model.‘This means national investment and a national approach to commissioning that ensures providers are resourced to deliver on their obligations as good employers.'
