The chancellor’s Spring Budget on March 15 got a mixed reaction from the care sector with a welcome for measures that supported care workers in employment coupled with a sense that more should have been done. The National Care Forum (NCF), representing not-for-profit providers, said that better funding for childcare and an extension to the Energy Price Guarantee would help care staff, but said the government should have introduced a fully funded workforce plan. “The recognition that workers over 50 are an integral part of the workforce is welcome, but the government has missed a massive opportunity to lay out a clear strategy for investing in a fully funded workforce plan that enables the care workforce to be paid at a rate that recognises their skills, knowledge and expertise,” said Vic Rayner, CEO of NCF.
