Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to The Hewitt Review: an independent review of integrated care systems, published on 4 April, what plans they have to implement the recommendation contained in that review to publish a strategy for the social care workforce.

Local Government has a key role to play in supporting recruitment and retention in their areas, utilising their oversight of local systems to identify workforce shortages and develop workforce plans. A new duty on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) means that the CQC will now be considering if local authorities understand their current and future workforce needs and if councils are working in partnership with providers to develop, support and promote capable and effective care workforces.

In April 2023, the Government published ‘Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care’, reiterating our strategy for the social care workforce, and detailing investment of at least £250 million in the adult social care workforce over the next two years.