Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to boost care worker pay in the short term amid existing staff shortages due to COVID-19.

The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who ultimately set their pay and renumeration, independent of central Government.

However, we recognise the challenges that providers and local authorities are currently experiencing in recruiting and retaining social care workers. To provide additional support to the sector over the winter, on 21 October we announced a new £162.5 million Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund. We expect local authorities to work closely with care providers on how this funding is spent, which may include incentive and retention payments.