adult social care – Union Newswire

Care worker climb down over families shows government in chaos, says UNISON

Following a government clarification that care workers already in the UK will not be forced to send dependants home when they renew their visas or change sponsors, UNISON head of social care Gavin Edwards said today (Friday):

“This partial climb down on visa rules will bring some relief to migrant care workers already here with families.

“But ministers should have been clear from the start. Overseas care staff could have been spared weeks of worry.

“The muddled and chaotic approach points to panic at the heart of government. It remains the case that ministers’ reckless changes to immigration policy spell disaster for social care.

“Migrant care workers are now more likely to shun the UK in favour of parts of the world where their skills and families will be more welcome.

“That isn’t good for a social care system that’s become reliant upon their support. Ministers should now row back completely and still allow care workers to bring dependants here.

“It’s also high time the government did what it’s long promised. Fix the care sector. That means boosting wages significantly above the minimum wage. Only when care jobs are paid at decent rates will the damaging staffing crisis end.”

Notes to editors:– UNISON and the National Care Forum sent a letter to health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins this week urging her to scrap new visa rules aimed at migrant care workers.– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
Sophie Goodchild M: 07767 325595 E: s.goodchild@unison.co.uk

The article Care worker climb down over families shows government in chaos, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Care worker climb down over families shows government in chaos, says UNISON

“This partial climb down on visa rules will bring some relief to migrant care workers already here with families.

“But ministers should have been clear from the start. Overseas care staff could have been spared weeks of worry.

“The muddled and chaotic approach points to panic at the heart of government. It remains the case that ministers’ reckless changes to immigration policy spell disaster for social care.

“Migrant care workers are now more likely to shun the UK in favour of parts of the world where their skills and families will be more welcome.

“That isn’t good for a social care system that’s become reliant upon their support. Ministers should now row back completely and still allow care workers to bring dependants here.

The article Care worker climb down over families shows government in chaos, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON publishes report on the future of the minimum wage

UNISON was at the forefront of efforts to bring about the original minimum wage and, 25 years on, the union is once again leading the debate about how further advances can be made in a new report.

Titled Delivering greater security for the low paid: a collection of essays on the future of the minimum wage, the report features contributions from the Resolution Foundation, TUC, the Living Wage Foundation, Citizen’s Advice and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

It also includes a piece from the union’s head of health at UNISON Sara Gorton, focusing on the issue of low weekly pay, which remains a big problem for around one in four workers, including many social carers.

A survey of social care workers conducted by UNISON revealed that:

77% of staff said that they would take more hours if they were available
73% of staff said that they would you prefer a typical full-time working week of approximately 37 hours if it were available
Contracted hours varied from week to week for three quarters of staff.

In comments on their working patterns, the dominant issue was the stress and worry caused by inadequate hours, which leaves workers unable to pay bills on time.

Many respondents referred to the high fixed costs of rent and energy bills leaving them to juggle the frequently inadequate remaining income on food for them and their families.

Of course, they want flexibility, like most workers do, and they want a decent work life balance. But they want it within the bounds of the contractual security that many better paid workers take for granted.

UNISON therefore maintains that, while it’s important to push for an increase to the minimum hourly rate, unions should also be looking to ensure that people have secure contracts guaranteeing weekly hours too.

Labour’s commitment to scrap zero hours contracts and give workers the right to a contract for the hours they do will help significantly. But as UNISON policy officer David Arnold, who edited the collection, points out, it is the party’s plan to introduce sectoral collective bargaining and fair pay agreements, with the first in adult social care, that could have the greatest impact on the low paid:

“This should enable trade unions to negotiate with employers and to address the too few hours problem

“In many ways this represents a shift in emphasis to a more joined up approach to addressing low pay. This is a theme that runs through the report. Agreements, living hours, better sick pay provision and an improved benefit system, will all make the minimum wage even more effective in helping the low paid.”

Read the full report here

The article UNISON publishes report on the future of the minimum wage first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Better pay is the solution to England’s care recruitment crisis, says UNISON

Commenting on the small decrease in the number of vacancies in social care in England, reported by Skills for Care today (Wednesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“The need for a new national care service grows more pressing with each passing day.

“Until care jobs pay decent wages and offer worthwhile careers, the sector is always going to struggle to attract and keep enough staff to meet growing demand and take the pressure off the NHS.

“Vacancy rates are down slightly because care firms have been on a recruitment drive overseas. But migrant workers are now propping up the broken care system.

“Many overseas care workers have paid extortionate fees to come to the UK. When they get here, many can’t believe what they’ve signed up for.

“Sold an expensive dream, the sad reality for many is a nightmare of terrible treatment, scant training, excessive hours and low pay. The government must hold care providers to account and put a stop to this ill-treatment.

“Ministers must stop with the excuses, get a grip and start clearing up the mess they’ve let care become.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON has written to care minister Helen Whately asking for an urgent meeting to discuss the treatment of migrant workers by care companies.
– The government added ‘care workers’ and ‘home carers’ to the shortage occupation list for skilled workers in February 2022. This has enabled care providers to recruit directly from abroad to these roles. Nurses from overseas can also access visas to work in social care.
– The latest Skills for Care annual report estimates that there are now 152,000 care worker vacancies in England. The figure was previously 165,000. Skills for Care says England will need its social care workforce to grow by roughly 445,000, to around 2.23 million by 2035, if the number of people aged 65 and over grows as expected. Its annual report says around 70,000 people were recruited from abroad in the last year.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk

The article Better pay is the solution to England’s care recruitment crisis, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Better pay is the solution to England’s care recruitment crisis, says UNISON

Commenting on the small decrease in the number of vacancies in social care in England, reported by Skills for Care today (Wednesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“The need for a new national care service grows more pressing with each passing day.

“Until care jobs pay decent wages and offer worthwhile careers, the sector is always going to struggle to attract and keep enough staff to meet growing demand and take the pressure off the NHS.

“Vacancy rates are down slightly because care firms have been on a recruitment drive overseas. But migrant workers are now propping up the broken care system.

“Many overseas care workers have paid extortionate fees to come to the UK. When they get here, many can’t believe what they’ve signed up for.

“Ministers must stop with the excuses, get a grip and start clearing up the mess they’ve let care become.”

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk

The article Better pay is the solution to England’s care recruitment crisis, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Matt Hancock made for grim listening at the COVID Inquiry

Matt Hancock, the man responsible for the health and care of the nation during the deadliest emergency for a century, finally gave his evidence to the COVID Inquiry this week. And it was just as grim as I’d expected.

He talked about social care like it was something he found down the back of his sofa, rather than a vital public service he was responsible for. At one point, he said: “We at the health department” – once again forgetting about social care.

He admitted he didn’t know how many care homes there were in the country when COVID hit, or how many care home residents lived in them. So how could he possibly have known where to throw that ‘protective ring’ he boasted about?

The care sector had been in crisis long before the pandemic – a crisis presided over by years of Tory mismanagement and failed political choices. This left the sector exposed to the ravages of the pandemic, right from the start.

Mr Hancock failed in his responsibility to provide enough PPE, testing and paid leave for care workers who needed to self-isolate. He was warned by UNISON, repeatedly, about the need for sick pay and yet he failed to act decisively.

When the government belatedly brought in an “infection control fund” to provide money for sick pay, UNISON care worker members told us the system didn’t work, with many still left without adequate pay.

It’s also telling how he relied so heavily on his lack of direct control over social care as an excuse for these failings, but when he saw the vaccination programme giving the Tories a boost in the polls, he had no problem introducing the ill-advised “mandatory vaccination” in care homes, which ironically undermined the roll-out.

He found the levers to make vaccination mandatory for care workers, but not sick pay.

Even now, when the time is right for self-reflection and taking responsibility, he is dodging it and passing the buck.

There are lessons to be learnt from the inquiry. A big one is about the urgent need to fix the social care crisis. A nationally integrated, fully funded system, delivered by empowered local councils, would have ensured a secretary of state for health and social care took responsibility for the whole job. It could have saved lives, and the UK could have avoided one of the worst death rates in Europe.

UNISON’s campaign for a National Care Service got a big boost from the Fabian Society report a few weeks ago and 16,000 people have already signed our recently launched petition. If Matt Hancock showed us this week how care was so easily forgotten by Tory ministers, you can show how important it is to you, by signing our petition today.

The article Blog: Matt Hancock made for grim listening at the COVID Inquiry first appeared on the UNISON National site.