Adult social care

What positions have MPs and peers taken on adult social care over the past twelve months?

A briefing written by AI (Claude) from the Hansard records cited below, prepared 26 October 2026 from records up to 23 October 2026. Check the sources before relying on it.

In brief

Government ministers presented the Fair Pay Agreement as the central workforce reform, as when Stephen Kinnock's statement, read in the Lords, called it "a landmark reform that will turn the page on decades of low pay, insecurity, and the exploitation of adult social care workers" [Source 4].
Opposition peers pressed for detail on the national care service, as when Lord Kamall said "What we need to hear is practical detail" [Source 7].
Devolved parliaments debated pay and immigration, as when Jackie Dunbar in the Scottish Parliament criticised UK Government immigration policy as "hugely damaging" [Source 25] to care provision.

Government ministers - supportive

Ministers described a package of pay and workforce reforms, as when Alison McGovern wrote that "care workers will receive one of the biggest upgrades in their pay, employment rights, and conditions in a generation" [Source 2].

Stephen Kinnock said that local authorities can use additional funding to increase the fee rates they pay to care home providers [Source 1], and that funding would be over £1.6 billion higher in 2026/27 than in 2025/26 [Source 1].
Kinnock said responsibility for workforce planning "sits primarily with local authorities and providers" [Source 3].

Conservative frontbench - constructive but demanding detail

Lord Kamall, who has raised the subject repeatedly, said his side would "approach meaningful reform constructively" [Source 7] but that the Government must show proposals are affordable, deliverable and fair.

He asked whether the national care service would be "a nationalised care service with no role for mutuals, co-operatives, friendly societies, charities, social enterprises, non-profits and family-run care providers" [Source 7].
He warned about additional employment costs undermining the viability of smaller care providers [Source 7].

Backbenchers and other parties - pressing on funding, ownership and pay

Members raised funding and ownership, as when Labour's Lord Sikka asked "When are the Government going to end profiteering in this sector and ensure that social care is provided by not-for-profit entities only?" [Source 12]

Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, said her council faces "a 34% rise in adult social care costs, compared with only a 15% rise in core spending power" [Source 20].
Ellie Chowns (Green, North Herefordshire) asked whether social care needs to be locally delivered, but nationally funded [Source 9].
Written questions asked what the Fair Pay Agreement would deliver: Andrew Snowden asked about average hourly pay increases in each of the first five years [Source 6], and Siân Berry asked when minimum pay would reach £15 per hour for domiciliary care workers [Source 8].

Devolved parliaments - pay, with immigration criticism

These parliaments decide many social care matters for their own nations. In the Senedd, Mabon ap Gwynfor (Plaid Cymru) said only 38 per cent of the workforce are content with their pay [Source 29]. In the Scottish Parliament, Jackie Baillie (Labour) said a £15 million funding gap [Source 22] in delivering the real living wage would have a "devastating impact" [Source 22]. In the Northern Ireland Assembly, Linda Dillon (Sinn Féin) said the real living wage had been "promised for almost two years" [Source 31].

Committee witnesses - welcoming reform, warning on access and wages

Sampson Low of UNISON told the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee that 12,500 social care employers could be left outside [Source 32] union access rules if a threshold of 21 stood. Peter Wieltschnig of the TUC told the Home Affairs Committee that "we need to make sure that there are conditions and pay that make people want to join these sectors in the first place" [Source 34].

About the evidence: The records are mostly written questions and answers, with few debate speeches, and no division records. Each group rests on a small number of speakers. Devolved contributions come from the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly, which are not part of the UK Parliament. Committee witnesses' views are their own.

Adult social care

Sources