The National Care Forum (NCF) has responded to the publication of the Skills for Care size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2024/25 report.
The report covers these key points:
- The adult social care workforce continued to grow in 2024/25 despite a significant fall in the number of international recruits.
- The number of filled posts grew by 52,000 (3.4%) to 1.6 million.
- The vacancy rate fell to 7% – or 111,000 vacancies on any given day – which is back to pre-Covid levels.
- The growth in the number of filled posts was smaller than the previous year. This is likely to be due in part to the number of international recruits falling by 53% to 50,000.
- The number of posts filled by people with a British nationality continued to fall, decreasing by 30,000 in 2024/25 (a decrease of 2.5%). The overall decrease in posts filled by people with a British nationality since 2020/2021 is 85,000 (7%).
- The sector is still likely to need another 470,000 posts by 2040 to keep up with the projected growth in the population over the age of 65.
Vic Rayner, CEO of NCF, stated: “We should make no mistake that the 2025 Size and Structure report from Skills for Care underlines the need for action to build a resilient social care workforce that is fit for the future.
“On the surface the numbers indicate growth, but beneath the headlines there is a critical story to tell of a sector that is struggling to recruit and retain a sustainable domestic workforce that meets the needs of a growing population. The vacancy rate for adult social care is still three times that of the wider economy. The number of posts filled by people with a British nationality continued to fall this year too, decreasing by 30,000. The size and structure report also highlights that the sector is still likely to need to create and fill another 470,000 posts by 2040 to keep up with the projected growth in the population over the age of 65.
“With a Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care on the horizon, the government has a golden opportunity to truly invest in its workforce. The trends all point to a need to act, demonstrated by the year-on-year shrinkage taking place in our domestic care workforce that will deepen further without urgent action. This picture will only improve if the government takes strong and purposeful action to show care workers they are valued and appreciated – this means fully funding any Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care. Government should also ensure that there is adequate funding in the interim and that commissioning practice is conducive to improving the pay of care workers and attracting more domestic workers.
“Building a resilient workforce fit for the future also means making roles more attractive to the domestic workforce over the long term. The workforce strategy for adult social care developed in collaboration with a wide range of organisations, including the NCF, and led by Skills for Care identifies the workforce needed over the next 15 years and sets out a plan for ensuring the sector has enough of the right people with the right skills. We urge the government to commit resource and energy to work with the sector to see that plan achieved.”
