Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of recruitment in social care; whether he is taking steps to increase the level of recruitment in that sector; and if he will make a statement.

The Department provides funding for Skills for Care to collect data from social care employers on the adult social care workforce. According their most recent published data, there are now 1.62 million adult social care jobs in England. This is a 22% increase between 2009 and 2018. The average vacancy rate was 7.8%, equivalent to 122,000 vacancies at any one time.

The Government is working alongside stakeholders in the adult social care sector to ensure there is the right number of people, with the right skills, knowledge and values to meet increasing demand, and deliver high quality, compassionate care and support. We have invested £7 million over the past two years in a national recruitment campaign designed to raise the profile of adult social care, encourage potential applicants to apply for job vacancies, and highlight opportunities for career development and progression. Through our continued funding of Skills for Care we have also provided a range of resources and practical toolkits for providers to help attract, train and retain staff.