Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether local authorities will receive additional funding beyond the £500 million announced to meet any increased commissioning costs resulting from the Fair Pay Agreement.

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 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.

The final level of any increase to pay or conditions will depend on the outcome of negotiations between employer and worker representatives in the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body. This will cover all adult social care workers as defined in the Employment Rights Act 2025, including agency staff.

Over this Parliament, alongside our changes to the minimum wage and new measures in the Employment Rights Act, care workers will receive one of the biggest upgrades in their pay, employment rights, and conditions in a generation.