Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the analysis in the Statement of impact – The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 updated on 19 July 2021, stating that potentially 40,000 staff will leave both their jobs and the sector in the next 16 weeks, what steps the Government plans to take to encourage the recruitment of new care and support workers into the care sector.

We are working with Skills for Care to ensure that resources are available to support providers and local authorities with capacity, workforce planning, recruitment, and well-being.

We ran a national recruitment campaign across broadcast, digital and social media, highlighting the vital work care workers do. We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to promote adult social care careers to jobseekers. We are continuing to work closely with the sector to understand how we can further support recruitment to the sector.