28 November 2018

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has joined the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) in recommending the reinstatement of sectoral collective bargaining in the social care sector.

Its latest report draws from IER publication 8 Good Reasons Why Adult Social Care Needs Sectoral Collective Bargaining, as well as a rich plethora of other evidence-based reports, to come to the same conclusion as our experts: social care workers need a stronger voice.

"The challenges of recruiting and retaining workers in the sector is inextricably linked to low pay and poor working conditions. This is itself related to the under-funding of social care and a commissioning and delivery model based on cost not quality. Providers have competed by driving down pay and conditions, and they have faced little resistance given the limited bargaining power of the workforce and the limited enforcement of employment rights. These factors are combining to create a social care workforce crisis," the think tank said.

If action is not taken, unfilled positions in the industry could rise to as much as 400,000 by 2028, the IPPR warned.

"If we are to solve the workforce crisis, we need to deliver a sustainable long-term funding settlement for social care and a transformation of the social care workforce model. This should be based on the establishment of decent pay and terms and conditions through sectoral collective bargaining, and a professionalisation of the social care workforce," it concluded.