Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to encourage school leavers to pursue a career in social care.

We launched the latest phase of the adult social care national recruitment campaign Made with Care on 9 October 2023, with advertising appearing across catch up television, social media, radio and online, motivating suitable candidates to apply. We also recently launched the specification for a new level two occupationally based qualification so that staff joining adult social care can gain an early qualification on the job.

The social care workforce remains at the heart of our reform plans. Our workforce reforms will provide the workforce with more support to develop and progress within their careers and will improve the quality, safety, and personalisation of care.