Latest news with #adult social care
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Adult social care vacancies down but domestic recruitment still ‘challenging'
The number of jobs in adult social care in England filled by British nationals has fallen by 85,000 since the pandemic, according to a report which warns of challenges ahead for recruitment in the long-stretched sector. Posts filled by people with a British nationality since 2020/2021 fell by 7%. The Government has previously pledged to 'end the reliance on overseas recruitment' but Skills for Care's latest report has said there must be a focus on 'how we attract and keep more people domestically'. In the most recent year alone, the twelve months to March, the number of posts filled by British nationals fell by 30,000, the organisation, which is the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, said. The organisation measures posts filled rather than the number of people, because a person might hold more than one post and roles might also be shared. In rules which came into effect last week, new applications for care workers and senior care workers under the skilled worker visa were closed, as part of Government efforts in 'restoring control over the immigration system'. In April the Government implemented new rules saying that care providers would have to prove they had attempted to recruit a worker from within England, before looking overseas. The latest Skills for Care report said domestic recruitment 'remains challenging for the sector' and that the new immigration rules from July 'will make it more challenging for the sector to continue to grow in line with demand'. The organisation re-stated its previous projection that an extra 470,000 people will need to be employed in the sector by 2040 to meet the needs of a growing older population. The report said: 'A substantial increase in recruitment and retention of staff with a British nationality would likely be required to achieve this level of growth.' Under the previous Conservative government, a ban on international care workers bringing dependants to the UK led to a sharp drop in health and care visas in the months after the measure came in. The latest Skills for Care report said an estimated 50,000 people arrived in the UK in 2024/25 to start direct care-providing roles in the independent sector, down from 105,000 the previous year. Of the 50,000 recruited internationally, an estimated 10,000 came on a health and care worker visa, while the rest came on other routes, potentially including student visas and family members of people arriving in the UK on other visa types. Overall, the number of adult social care posts filled between 2023/24 and 2024/25 rose by 52,000 to 1.6 million. The vacancy rate has also fallen to 7.0%, with 111,000 vacant posts on any given day in the year to March. This is down from an 8.3% vacancy rate in the year to March 2024, when there were 126,000 vacant posts on any given day. The vacancy rate hit a high of 152,000 vacant posts a day in the 12 months to March 2022. Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care's chief executive, said while the falling vacancy rate is 'encouraging', the sector 'can't afford to be complacent'. She said: 'We need to protect ourselves from the wild swings in vacancy rates driven by the wider economic picture. 'It's important to recognise that, while the vacancy rate in social care has reduced, it's still three times that of the wider economy.' She urged investment in 'stable recruitment and retention' and efforts to make roles 'more attractive to the domestic workforce over the long term' including through development opportunities, improving the quality of roles and supporting positive cultures within organisations. She added: 'We know there's lots more to do, though. Everyone, from Government to care providers, from regulators to frontline staff, has a role to play in building the workforce we need to deliver the best possible care and support for the people in our communities who draw on local services.' The Government has been contacted for comment.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Social care roles are being filled, but the sector is still concerned. Here's why
The number of jobs in adult social care being filled by British nationals has fallen by 85,000 since the pandemic, highlighting significant recruitment challenges for the already strained sector, according to a new report. Posts filled by British nationals since 2020/2021 fell by 7 per cent, with 30,000 in the most recent year alone, according to Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England. The organisation clarifies that its figures measure posts filled rather than the number of individual people, acknowledging that one person may hold multiple roles or share positions. The findings come despite a government pledge to "end the reliance on overseas recruitment". However, the latest analysis suggests a critical need to focus on "how we attract and keep more people domestically". In rules which came into effect last week, new applications for care workers and senior care workers under the skilled worker visa were closed, as part of the government's efforts in 'restoring control over the immigration system'. In April, the government implemented new rules saying that care providers would have to prove they had attempted to recruit a worker from within England before looking overseas. The latest Skills for Care report said domestic recruitment 'remains challenging for the sector' and that the new immigration rules from July 'will make it more challenging for the sector to continue to grow in line with demand'. The organisation re-stated its previous projection that an extra 470,000 people will need to be employed in the sector by 2040 to meet the needs of a growing older population. The report said: 'A substantial increase in recruitment and retention of staff with a British nationality would likely be required to achieve this level of growth.' Under the previous Conservative government, a ban on international care workers bringing dependants to the UK led to a sharp drop in health and care visas in the months after the measure came in. The latest Skills for Care report said an estimated 50,000 people arrived in the UK in 2024/25 to start direct care-providing roles in the independent sector, down from 105,000 the previous year. Of the 50,000 recruited internationally, an estimated 10,000 came on a health and care worker visa, while the rest came on other routes, potentially including student visas and family members of people arriving in the UK on other visa types. Overall, the number of adult social care posts filled between 2023/24 and 2024/25 rose by 52,000 to 1.6 million. The vacancy rate has also fallen to 7.0 per cent, with 111,000 vacant posts on any given day in the year to March. This is down from an 8.3 per cent vacancy rate in the year to March 2024, when there were 126,000 vacant posts on any given day. The vacancy rate hit a high of 152,000 vacant posts a day in the 12 months to March 2022. Oonagh Smyth, Skills for Care's chief executive, said while the falling vacancy rate is 'encouraging', the sector 'can't afford to be complacent'. She said: 'We need to protect ourselves from the wild swings in vacancy rates driven by the wider economic picture. 'It's important to recognise that, while the vacancy rate in social care has reduced, it's still three times that of the wider economy.' She urged investment in 'stable recruitment and retention' and efforts to make roles 'more attractive to the domestic workforce over the long term' including through development opportunities, improving the quality of roles and supporting positive cultures within organisations. 'We know there's lots more to do, though. Everyone, from Government to care providers, from regulators to frontline staff, has a role to play in building the workforce we need to deliver the best possible care and support for the people in our communities who draw on local services.'
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Council overspend on social care highest in decade amid warning over NHS plan
Recent overspend by councils in England on their adult social care budgets was the highest in a decade, according to a major survey. The annual report from care leaders warned that due to the current state of the sector – which campaigners have long argued has not been prioritised or had adequate investment – the Government's aim to shift more care into the community could be undermined. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) said the financial situation 'is as bad as it has been in recent history' with council overspend on adult social care budgets in the year to March hitting around £774 million. This was up from £586 million in the previous year and is the highest level for at least a decade, Adass said. Its survey – which had responses from 91% of directors of adult social services in England – also showed care leaders have reduced spending on prevention by 11% this year. Just 5.6% of this year's total adult social care net budget is projected to be spent on prevention. Adass said this lowest recorded spend is because overstretched budgets mean care leaders have had to prioritise immediate needs and people in crisis. Earlier this month Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting unveiled their 10-year NHS plan which they vowed would 'fundamentally rewire' the health service and put care on people's doorsteps. The plan set out how the NHS will move from treatment to prevention and from hospital to more care shifted into neighbourhoods and people's homes. But Adass president Jess McGregor said: 'Without more investment to keep people well and independent at home, we risk undermining the shift towards prevention and neighbourhood health that Wes Streeting, the NHS and this Government are rightly championing.' The overall overspend is 'likely to result in councils further tightening the eligibility criteria for social care, so they can deliver their legal obligations, leaving very little left for preventative measures that would likely save the state money in the longer term and most importantly, improve outcomes for people', Adass said. Ms McGregor said: 'The maths simply doesn't add up – more people are coming to councils for help and their care is complex and costly, which means we don't have funds left to provide the early support and prevention that would stop people's health from deteriorating and help them avoid spiralling into crisis, where they frequently end up in hospital.' The spending review published last month stated there would be an increase of more than £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26. But Adass said there remains 'uncertainty' about what that figure covers, including whether it takes in the 'much-needed but costly fair pay agreement for care workers', which is yet to be set out by the Government. Ms McGregor repeated a call for social care to be prioritised, saying: 'It's vital that adult social care leaders who are well versed in delivering support at the community level are meaningfully involved in decisions about where and how resources for neighbourhood health and care are spent. 'After all, acute hospitals are not best placed to deliver social care at the neighbourhood level – but councils are.' The Local Government Association (LGA) said the survey results show 'councils are caught in the impossible position' of choosing between meeting people's complex care needs and supporting other's wellbeing to prevent needs escalating. The LGA added: 'Local government is best placed to lead this shift and deliver neighbourhood-level care, but it cannot do so with one hand tied behind its back by underfunding.' Mr Streeting has previously said social care 'has to be part' of neighbourhood health, adding: 'In the context of this plan, social care features because it has a role to play on admission avoidance and speeding up delayed discharges.' The Casey Commission, launched earlier this year, aims to set out a plan to implement a national care service, but social care leaders have previously raised concerns over the potential timeline of 2036 for some recommended reforms to be introduced. The first phase is expected to report in 2026, although recommendations from the initial probe will be implemented in phases over the course of 10 years. The second phase of the commission, setting out longer-term reforms, is due to report by 2028. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a social care system in crisis but in our first year of government we have taken immediate action to improve this. 'The spending review will allow for increased funding for social care by £4 billion, we have legislated for the first ever fair pay agreement for care workers, and Baroness Casey has begun her work on the independent commission into adult social care to build a National Care Service that is fair and affordable for all. 'We have also invested £172 million extra in the Disabled Facilities Grant to deliver around an extra 15,000 home adaptations and given unpaid carers a £2,000 uplift to their allowance.'
