Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make a comparative assessment of the number of (a) people requiring care and (b) carers who are qualified and employed in England.

The Government uses national level modelling from the London School of Economics’ Care Policy and Evaluation to understand how demand for publicly funded long-term care is likely to change in the future. The latest evidence shows that the demand for publicly funded long-term care is likely to grow in the coming years.

On assessing the number of carers who are qualified and employed, the majority of roles in adult social care do not have formal qualification requirements, whilst the number of workers employed today does not necessarily indicate how many people will choose to join the workforce in the future. Any assessment of workforce numbers would also need to account for the invaluable role played by informal carers.