AQW 18917/22-27
Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast
Tabled Date: 27/11/2024
Answered On Date: 03/01/2025
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Health, in light of rising costs due to changes to National Insurance announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, to detail any new plans he is putting in place to assist recruitment and retention in the social care sector.
Answer:
My Department recognise that all levels of staff who work in social care are highly skilled, yet the remuneration is among the lowest in the labour market, leading to a low paid, undervalued and high turnover workforce, facing increasing pressures to provide the high quality of care the public demands. Staffing levels continue to be a significant challenge across the health and social care sector. My officials continue to work to maximise current capacity in social care and to engage with service providers in regard to addressing those ongoing issues of recruitment and retention. On the 12th December 2024, my department launched the Social Care Workforce Strategy which sets out a vision to develop a sustainable social care workforce over the next 10 years. The strategy is for those staff who are not required to hold a professional qualification to gain employment and who are working in statutory, private, community and voluntary settings across adult and children social care services. The strategy includes actions to improve recruitment, retain social care staff and to raise the profile and recognition of the social care workforce as a skilled and competent workforce. In addition, my officials work in partnership with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council to develop the training, career and qualification pathways for the social care workforce which is key to supporting the recruitment and retention of social care practitioners. The Social Care Fair Work Forum has also been established which will seek to embed Fair Work initiatives and consider how we move the social care sector to a Real Living Wage employer. Significant work is ongoing to build the case for the additional funding that will be required to deliver this. The Department does understand the concerns that these significant increases to National Insurance payments will have on providers in the independent social care sector. As with previous years, I would assure you that the Department is currently in the process of assessing the financial impact of these announcements and will be highlighting these inescapable pressures during the Budget process for 2025/26. It is planned to provide clarity as early as possible in the new year to ensure providers are able to plan effectively.
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