Take part in the Fair Pay Agreement Consultation for social care
25 Nov 2025
3 min read
Rose Thomas-Willis, Deputy Director, Adult Social Care Pay and Careers, DHSC and Oonagh Smyth, CEO, 大象传媒 discuss what the Fair Pay Consultation is and how you can get involved.
Rose Thomas-Willis
People working in care are some of the country’s most dedicated and hard-working individuals – who make people’s lives better and give them dignity, joy and more independence.
There are around 1.5 million people working in adult social care, but the sector as a whole faces significant challenges in recruiting and keeping staff – with pay being a key contributor to staff turnover.
The Government is committed to transforming adult social care and supporting adult social care workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. To boost the wages鈥痑nd improve the working conditions鈥痮f adult social care workers across England, the Government has announced a £500 million investment into the first ever Fair Pay Agreement鈥痠n the sector.
The Fair Pay Agreement process will see a new body formed to negotiate changes to pay and terms and conditions for care workers, improving recruitment and retention and giving staff better recognition for the vital work they carry out in society.鈥疊oth employers and trade unions will sit on the body, and this initial investment will mean that by 2028, care workers can expect to see a boost in their yearly wages.鈥�
We recognise the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth. We want it to be regarded as a profession, and for the people who work in care to be respected as professionals.
That is why the new body will be able to negotiate on all elements of pay, terms and conditions, and may include other employment matters for the adult social care workforce. This holistic approach allows the Body to consider elements such as training and professionalisation, if it so chooses, which can support making the adult social care sector more attractive.
This will build on our work to expand the first ever national career structure for adult social care – the Care Workforce Pathway, as well as the provision of £12 million for training through the Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS), and our recently published guidance on safe delegation of healthcare activities to care staff.
Oonagh Smyth
The Fair Pay Agreement is a really positive step forward for social care.
Our latest data insights tell us that the median hourly rate for a care worker in the independent sector as at March 2025 was £12.00. The National Living Wage as at March 2025 was £11.44, and is now £12.21.
We know that social care roles are amongst the lowest paid in our economy, which does not accurately reflect the skills, passion and impact that care workers have on our society.
From our data we also know that pay is one of key factors impacting on staff retention with data showing that care workers’ likelihood of leaving decreased as pay levels increased.
That’s why fair pay for care workers is so important – to appropriately reward the talent and professionalism of people working in care, and to tackle the sector’s recruitment and retention challenges so that we can build a sustainable workforce for the future.
By making improvements to pay and terms and conditions for the care sector, we can improve the esteem in which jobs in social care are held by the wider population.
That’s why improvements to pay is one of the recommendations of The Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England, published in 2024.
The Fair Pay Consultation is your opportunity to have your say on what this important piece development for people working in care will look like.
You are the people who this will directly impact and that’s why your voice really matters in getting it right.
This is a momentous change for social care, and the consultation is your opportunity to help shape that change.
Now is your chance to influence this policy by sharing your views. Find out more below.
How to take part in the consultation about the fair pay agreement process in adult social care.
The Government wants to hear from individuals involved with social care, from care workers to those who draw on care, and organisations, such as care providers and local authorities, about how to set up the process for collectively agreeing a Fair Pay Agreement. The consultation is a crucial step in designing this new policy; your views are crucial to ensuring it works for the adult social care sector and has the positive impact we want.
The public consultation on the design of the Fair Pay Agreement process is now open until 16 January 2026. You can
Print this page