Oral Answers to Questions

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Tuesday 7th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Care (Caroline Dinenage)]

Yes. By 2020, we expect all relevant staff to have received appropriate dementia training.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

T4. In the north-east, over half of domiciliary care workers are on zero-hours contracts, 40% have no relevant qualification and, as the recent Low Pay Commission report shows, rates of non-payment of the minimum wage are rising, but enforcement is not. What will the Secretary of State do to improve the pay, conditions and training of careworkers who provide such an essential service?

[Caroline Dinenage]

This is all about getting more money into the system. That is why we have increased spending on adult social care by 9% over the last three years. We are focusing on attracting more people into adult social care, which is why we had the “Every Day is Different” recruitment campaign, to ensure that we get more brilliant-quality staff into adult social care roles.