Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to increase the pay of people in the social care sector; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing pay in the social care sector on staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention.

The Department currently has no plans to intervene in pay levels in the adult social care sector. No assessment has been made of the specific impact of increasing pay on recruitment and retention in the sector. Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central government.