Funding for the social care workforce in England is to be halved – a move one charity has called “an insult” and a union branded “disgraceful”.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on Tuesday it will provide £250m for the workforce.

However, in a white paper on adult social care published in December 2021, the government pledged to invest “at least £500m over the next three years to begin to transform the way we support the social care workforce”.

The white paper also promised to invest “at least £150m” in digitisation across the sector.

The latest announcement involves £100m to cover investment in digital social care records, with the department saying £50m had already been spent.

Tuesday’s announcement did not mention the previously announced £25m to support unpaid carers or the £300m mentioned in the white paper to integrate housing into local health and care strategies.

But the department later clarified support for unpaid carers will be set out in due course.

Charities criticised the slash in funding, but the DHSC said up to £600m of funding has not yet been allocated and will be invested over the next two years.

Jackie O’Sullivan, from learning disability charity Mencap, said: “This plan is an insult to a sector that was once treated as a priority for government.”

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She said the reforms promised in the white paper have “now been diluted beyond recognition” for a sector facing a deficit of 165,000 care workers.

“Without this workforce, nothing else is possible: no increase in quality of care can be achieved; no innovative ideas can be realised; and people with a learning disability who rely on social care will suffer,” she added.

“The government needs to act fast on the real issues like workforce pay, timely access to support and the underfunding of the system, before it’s too late.”

Natalie Grayson, from the GMB union, which represents social care workers, called it a “disgraceful decision” but did not expect anything else from the government.

The King’s Fund health think tank said the measures were “a dim shadow of the widescale reform to adult social care that this government came into office promising”.

Read more:
Tens of thousands of elderly people died without getting care
Carers struggle to find support for loved ones amid ‘enormous’ staff shortages

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Age UK said the plans were not “remotely enough to transform social care”.

A report from Care England and care provider HfT in March warned adult social care was “on the precipice” when it came to costs.

The low level of pay for care staff was considered the biggest barrier to recruitment and retention, the report said.

Social care minister Helen Whately last month spoke at the annual Care England conference where she insisted the government “backs social care”.

On Tuesday she said the package “focuses on recognising care with the status it deserves”.

She said it focuses “on the better use of technology, the power of data and digital care records, and extra funding for councils – aiming to make a care system we can be proud of”.

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