Care Show review
Ayres pointed out to me, retention remains key. “It’s really important that care workers
are respected for the work they do,” echoed Tom. “It’s critically important that they are allowed to build a rewarding career and develop their career within the sector, and the fair pay agreement is an important part of that. The government’s view is that the fair pay agreement is a tool to achieve those wider objectives.” Confirming that the fair pay agreement
was scheduled to come into force on 1 April 2028 (with this being reflected in pay packets that same month), Tom moved on to discuss how such a pay uplift would be funded. “The majority of social care provision is
funded by the state,” said Tom, suggesting a figure of around sixty five per cent, and highlighting the £500m that has already been earmarked. “The fair pay agreement is going to apply
to all care workers – not just the proportion of them that are working in local government- funded or state-funded sectors. That does mean that the total cost of a fair pay agreement could be more than £500m, and those additional costs will be shared between providers, self-funders, and the NHS. “The proposal is that the negotiating body
will need to negotiate within that £500m for the local authority-commissioned elements of care, but the conclusion of the negotiation will apply across the whole sector. That negotiation could focus solely on pay, but it may not. It may choose to focus on other terms and conditions – that might be sick pay, it might be annual leave requirement, it might be learning and development. That will be for the negotiating body [to decide]. According to Tom, the government is
keen to hear from stakeholders across social care, and he encouraged engagement with
More and more, we’re going to sites where someone’s got an existing building they’re looking to utilise for care.
the consultation on the fair pay agreement, which is set to run until mid-January 2026. “The consultation is a chance for anyone
with an interest in the policy to respond to questions, comment on the proposals, and share their views about how we design the fair pay agreement,” he emphasised. “We’ve been working really closely with representative organisations, trade unions, the Care Providers Alliance, local government organisations, the Directors of Adult Social Services [ADASS], the Royal Colleges, the Trade Union Congress – the list goes on and on. But actually what’s really important is that we hear directly from those who work in the sector and those who run businesses in the sector, as well as their representatives.”
Being inspection-ready Finally, I attended the 13:45 keynote How to ensure you’re always inspection-ready
from Care Research director Louie Werth, and Sue Sheath, director of regulation and quality improvement at Barchester healthcare. Discussing how providers ought to
approach the often fraught process of being inspected by the CQC, Louie and Sue suggested that a change in mindset was needed, with providers placing less focus on the ‘big day’ of the CQC inspection and instead thinking far more about embedding the necessary systems and culture within their organisations to ensure that they are always ‘inspection-ready’. “My view,” said Sue, “is that we don’t
do this to satisfy the regulators. First and foremost, we do this because we need to deliver great quality care 24/7 for our residents and patients ... So it’s really important that you’ve got these systems embedded. “However big an organisation you are,
you’ve got to have systems and processes in place, and that’s what some of this is about.” Louie drew an interesting analogy: “My
father went to school in the 50s. Once a year, they would have this amazing school dinner because the government school food inspectorate would come in. They’d let the school know two weeks beforehand, and one day a year these kids would have this insanely brilliant meal, then back to gruel the next day. “We can’t treat the CQC like that,” he
continued. “That there’s this ‘super magic day’ when they’re on their way, and we have make it this brilliant performance. We have to make sure we’ve got embedded, realistic,
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com November 2025
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