Adult Social Care
Government invests £500 million into first ever Fair Pay Agreement in major milestone for care worker pay.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting announces a major £500m investment in Fair Pay Agreement for adult care workers across England https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/500m+for+first+ever+fair+pay+agreement+for+care+workers+30092025161000?open
The first of its kind, the Agreement will be negotiated by a new body that brings together employers and trade unions to boost pay and conditions for a workforce that has for too long been undervalued and underpaid
Government announcement follows tireless campaigning from unions and care workers for change
The Government today announces a major step in boosting the wages of adult social care workers across England, as a £500 million investment is announced into the first ever Fair Pay Agreement.
A new body to negotiate changes to pay and terms and conditions for care workers will be set up including both employers and trade unions.
The body will aim to improve recruitment and retention, giving staff better recognition for their important work and this initial investment will mean that by 2028, care workers will expect to see a boost in their yearly wages.
The cash injection follows the government’s immediate actions to boost the social care sector, including a £2,000 uplift in the carers’ allowance and an increase in the Disabled Facilities Grant to provide 15,000 more home adaptations.
A public consultation to gather views on the design of the Fair Pay Agreement process has also been launched today by government.
Following this, the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will be established through regulations in 2026 – with the first Fair Pay Agreement coming into force in 2028.
Sector Reacts to Government’s £500 Million Fair Pay Agreement Announcement
The adult social care sector has responded with cautious optimism to the government’s announcement of a £500 million investment towards England’s first Fair Pay Agreement for care workers, though providers have raised questions about whether the funding will prove sufficient to meet the wage expectations being created. https://thecareruk.com/sector-reacts-to-governments-500-million-fair-pay-agreement-announcement/
Health Secretary Wes Streeting unveiled the landmark initiative at Labour’s conference in Liverpool, confirming that a new negotiating body comprising employers and trade unions will be established in 2026, with the first agreement coming into force in 2028.
Whilst sector leaders have welcomed government recognition of care workers’ value and the principle of collective bargaining, many have emphasised that the investment must be accompanied by sustainable long-term funding to prevent providers absorbing unmanageable cost increases – particularly given existing financial pressures from National Insurance contributions, National Living Wage rises, and the Employment Rights Bill currently progressing through Parliament.
Social Care Commission Should Consider National System To Assess People’s Needs, Says The King’s Fund Think Tank
The Casey Commission, set up by the government to explore social care reform in England, should consider the benefits of moving to a national system of assessing people’s social care needs, such as in Australia, Germany and Japan. This is a key recommendation of a new report from The King’s Fund called Fixing social care: the six key problems and how to tackle them. https://thecareruk.com/social-care-commission-should-consider-national-system-to-assess-peoples-needs-says-the-kings-fund-think-tank/
In the current system, each local authority in England carries out its own assessment of people’s needs and finances, using national criteria, and there is wide variation in the number of people accessing care in different parts of the country.
The report says the Casey Commission should specifically consider the benefits of moving towards national assessment because it might provide greater consistency and would limit the risk of individual authorities ‘rationing’ care because of budget constraints. There may also be the potential for efficiency gains.
Make Or Break For Social Care As Councils Warn Of A ‘Triple Whammy’ Of Risks From Government Reorganisation Plans
Splitting county councils into multiple small unitary councils could hit millions of vulnerable people with a triple whammy of worse services, higher costs for care, and not enough staff to deliver support, a new report warns. https://thecareruk.com/make-or-break-for-social-care-as-councils-warn-of-a-triple-whammy-of-risks-from-government-reorganisation-plans/
The County Councils Network (CCN), which commissioned the research, say the report’s findings are a stark warning for the government if it does not stick to its original plans of creating councils with populations over half a million, with the first wave of councils submitting competing proposals to ministers two weeks ago.
The network argues that these plans to overhaul local government structures will ‘make or break’ care services depending on which proposals ministers decide to implement. But a survey contained in the report reveals that the most senior care professionals in England, have little to no confidence that the risks of breaking up vital care services into smaller councils will be fully considered by ministers.
Later Life Support
The Ageing Population Highlights The Critical Need For The Elderly Care Planning Of Tomorrow, Today
New research revealing that 28% of the UK population will be pensioners by 2075 should stop us in our tracks. It’s more than a statistic; it’s a glimpse into our collective future. As a nation, we are living longer, but we’re not planning smarter. https://thecareruk.com/the-ageing-population-highlights-the-critical-need-for-the-elderly-care-planning-of-tomorrow-today/
While most of us diligently invest in our pensions, far fewer are thinking about something just as critical: how we will finance our care if we need it in later life.
The uncomfortable truth is that as we age, many of us will require some form of support, whether in our own homes or within residential care. And it can be costly.
Too many of us assume the government will “step in” when needed, only to discover that eligibility thresholds are strict and personal contributions are often unavoidable. For families caught off guard, the emotional and financial toll can be devastating.
Quitting smoking in later life may slow down decline in memory, study finds
Quitting smoking, even in later life, could help slow down age-related memory problems, a study has found. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/quitting-smoking-later-life-may-230100166.html
According to experts, the findings add to evidence that giving up cigarettes may help prevent dementia, but they stress that more research is needed.
A team from UCL (University College London) examined the impact of smoking on age-related, cognitive decline, which is when a person’s ability to think, learn and remember gets worse as they get older.
The study, published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity journal, included data from 9,436 people aged 40 and over from across 12 countries.
Half had quit smoking, while half had continued.
Researchers said “the association between smoking and cognitive health is well established” but the long-term benefits of quitting are “less clear”.
Analysis of tests that measured memory and verbal fluency showed scores for people who had given up cigarettes declined slower in the six years after they quit.
For the smokers who quit, the rate of decline was about 20% slower for memory and 50% slower for verbal fluency.
How staying social later in life can benefit your brain
New research suggests that socialising could help to reduce the risk of frailty later in life. https://www.irishnews.com/life/how-staying-social-later-in-life-can-benefit-your-brain-XSGRHVRWDZKQHP3TVWZZYIBWBY/
Researchers from Newcastle University examined data on more than 2,000 men over the age of 65 who were assessed eight years apart.
The participants were asked questions on their social lives, including details of time spent with friends and family, volunteering, religious or social clubs, holidays and reading.
Results showed that those with higher social engagement at the start had a 31% lower risk of frailty, while those who increased their social activity over the eight-year period saw a 23% reduced risk.
These findings highlight how social connections can have massive benefits on our physical health, especially later in life.
Vulnerability
Firms must evidence outcomes in next step of consumer duty, says FCA
Firms must prove that communications move vulnerable consumers into better value products in the next step of the consumer duty, Charlotte Clark from the Financial Conduct Authority has said. https://www.ftadviser.com/consumer-duty/2025/10/20/firms-must-evidence-outcomes-in-next-step-of-consumer-duty-says-fca/
Speaking at the Next Steps for Consumer Duty conference, the cross-cutting policy and strategy director said the next step of the regulations, which are now two years old, will be a “deliberate move” from “prescription to principles with proof”.
This will entail fewer rigid templates and more evidence of better outcomes.
“The savings market shows the duty can raise rates and improve prompts, but the next step is clear, firms must prove these communications actually move vulnerable and long tenured cohorts into better value products,” she said.
However, Clark acknowledged that, for this to work, firms and consumers need to understand the authority’s expectations.
Therefore, she said: “Are firms delivering fair value, clear understanding, and timely support? If the answer is yes, then innovation and growth can thrive. If not, then complexity and harm creep back in.
“How do we further embed the duty? How do we simplify the evidence through data? We are looking beyond are you compliant to show us the outcomes and that is the culture shift that we are looking for at the FCA.”
To achieve this, Clark identified one goal in particular the FCA would be working towards – simplification.
The authority’s plan focuses on four aspects, starting with future proofing disclosure to ensure fewer rigid templates and more clear outcome-orientated communications.
The plan also involves reducing duplication, removing legacy material where the duty already sets a high bar, and targeted clean-ups – aligning mortgage, insurance, and credit advertising expectations to the duty.
Finally, the simplification plan involves cultivating support for smaller firms by providing guidance and pilots to see if they work for these firms.
Firms recognising vulnerability outside of FCA’s protected characteristics
There is a greater recognition of consumer vulnerability outside of the protected characteristics present in the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty, according to Professor John Fitch. https://www.ftadviser.com/consumer-duty/2025/10/20/firms-recognising-vulnerability-outside-of-fcas-protected-characteristics/
Speaking at the Next Steps for Consumer Duty conference, Fitch discussed the findings of a “major three year project” into the effects of consumer duty, which is due to be published next year.
“One of the interesting things we are seeing around vulnerability is the realisation that it can impact many consumers at moments of purchase or renewal or reflection of a product,” he said.
“Increasingly, we’re looking at the resources that people have available to them as they contend with the purchases of, what can be, hugely complex long lasting products and services.”
This is particularly pertinent as he explained that, in the current market, incidents of “time manipulation tactics”, such as sludge tactics or frictioning, can leave consumers vulnerable even if they possess no protected characteristics.
“The ability to gain resources at these critical moments is really important to help consumers make sense of the products and services that they are addressing,” Fitch said.
He suggested this creates a form of vulnerability that does not map on to the idea of protected characteristics.
However, he reported that, in his research “we’re quite impressed by the vulnerability work a number of financial services firms are doing in response to the consumer duty”.