A new coalition of former health and care ministers, employers, trade groups and UNISON has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak calling for an immediate £3.9bn emergency support fund to help the care sector through the pandemic.
The Future Social Care Coalition, a cross-party alliance of more than 80 organisations and individuals, said the money would also guarantee a significant wage boost to all social care employees in England.
Members of the group include former secretary of state for health and mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (pictured), former community and social care ministers Alistair Burt, Paul Burstow and Sir Norman Lamb, and former care services minister Phil Hope.
In the letter to Sunak, the group says Covid-19 has “magnified problems that have existed in the sector for years” and emphasises the urgent need for government intervention.
Workers on the “forgotten frontline” are existing on poverty wages and zero-hours contracts, and job vacancies are causing huge problems for employers, it adds.
A substantial increase in resources for the care sector is needed now, along with a long-term solution guaranteeing “affordable, quality care for everyone that needs it now and in the future”, says the letter.
The group also urges Sunak to find the resources to bring about change in social care. “This would allow the sector to begin to treated with the same respect as the NHS, and develop a comprehensive workforce strategy with better training and rates of pay,” it added.
Future Social Care Coalition also involves the National Care Association, Age UK, Carers UK, and Alzheimer’s Society, National Care Forum and others.
Coalition advisory board co-chair and UNISON assistant general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Care has long been the forgotten service. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the sector’s faults like nothing else.
“Its problems cannot be ignored for a moment longer. This unprecedented alliance brings together employers, politicians and the biggest care union to make a powerful case for change. Now the government needs.”
Charity director at Age UK and co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance Caroline Abrahams added: “The coronavirus crisis has demonstrated the need for strengthening the workforce. Social care is a people business and it’s impossible to deliver good care without enough committed, well-trained workers.
“The government must now do everything possible to help care workers at this very stressful time. That includes paying them a decent wage."
