Care Sector: Staff Salaries

6. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on staff salaries in the care sector.

I was proud that the Chancellor raised the salaries of hundreds of thousands of care workers in the Budget. Last month, the Government introduced legislation to deliver the first ever fair pay agreement for adult social care. While we were giving care workers a pay rise, the Leader of the Opposition was belittling their work as merely wiping bottoms. I gently say to the Conservative party that it is better to be wiping bottoms than talking out of them. This is an important issue, and I am dealing with ministerial colleagues on it.

According to last month’s Skills for Care report, most care workers are paid only a couple of pennies above the national minimum wage, while the sector cannot recruit and retain the people it needs. Will the Minister set out the timetable for establishing the fair pay agreement and adult social care negotiating body, and will he give the House an assurance that the care trade unions will be closely involved in its design?

We took quick action on the Employment Rights Bill, which includes the fair pay agreement, within 100 days of taking office. The consultation process on the negotiating body can begin only once the Bill has become an Act. We are engaging widely with stakeholders, and I assure my hon. Friend that unions will play a central role in that process, but let us remember that, through the national living wage, we are giving the lowest-paid full-time care workers a pay increase of £1,400 per year.

One barrier to better staff salaries in the care sector is the additional employer national insurance contributions. Are the Minister and his colleagues considering an exemption for GP practices, charities and hospices from national insurance employer contributions?

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care pointed out, when we won the general election on 4 July, we inherited public finances in their worst state since the second world war. Through the Chancellor, we have taken responsible action to deal with those issues. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also said that we are looking at the Budget in the round, and we will report on that in due course.