Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of vacant posts in the adult social care sector from their current high level.

We are running a national recruitment campaign until 31 March 2023 to encourage more people to consider a rewarding role in care. In February 2022, we made care workers eligible for the Health and Care Visa and added them to the Shortage Occupation list.

We are making available £15 million in 2023/24 to help local areas establish support arrangements for international recruitment and improve workforce capacity in adult social care. In addition, the £500 million adult social care discharge fund announced last September can be used by local authorities for the recruitment and retention of the social care workforce.