Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the effect of the Employment Rights Act on the (a) costs of providing adult social care and (b) associated effect on local authority finances and council tax.

The impacts of the Employment Rights Act have been assessed through a comprehensive package of published analysis, including the Impact Assessment ‘Establish a Fair Pay Agreements process in the Adult Social Care sector’. This is available here: http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.

The government has taken a major step in boosting the wages and working conditions of adult social care workers across England, having announced a £500 million investment into the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in the sector. This £500m forms part of an increase of over £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared to 2025-26.