Department for Work and Pensions Announcement – Care England Reaction

“Today’s announcement of new ‘skills boot camps’ to boost domestic employment will offer little reassurance to care providers across England. When the Government announced recent restrictions on legal migration, they were warned that without meaningful workforce reform, the care sector would struggle to fill its 152,000 vacancies. Today’s announcement is the latest short-term initiative that leaves the key issues of pay, terms and conditions, and meaningful career progression unaddressed.

“Care work is a challenging, yet extremely rewarding profession. Our staff are compassionate, patient and dedicated – values that can’t be instilled in a bootcamp. To truly fix the staffing crisis in social care, we need to create an environment that encourages and rewards people with the right values to join our sector and remain there for the long term. As it stands, that is simply not the case. Arming people with the skills a carer needs to get them through the door without addressing their values is a short-term solution to a long-term problem.”