The latest workforce data from Skills for Care shows that 26% of care workers are now paid on or within 10p of the National Living Wage, up from 22% earlier in the year.

Experienced staff earn on average just 10p more than those new to the sector, the data reveals. Nearly half of the workforce will need a pay uplift in April simply to meet the new £12.71 statutory minimum, affecting around 640,000 roles and 90% of independent providers.

The full report can be viewed here.

Meanwhile, Care England is calling on the Government to ensure that the funding for the Fair Pay Agreement reflects the cumulative impact of frozen tax and National Insurance thresholds, to act early to prevent further erosion of take-home pay, and to align wage policy with fiscal policy so that care workers see a tangible difference in their lives.

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Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: ‘Headline increases do not automatically translate into felt improvement. Care workers may be earning more on paper, but not enough more to change their day-to-day position in any meaningful way. When tax and threshold policy quietly absorbs part of each increase, the practical effect is that policy gives with one hand and recovers with the other. Reform that does not result in a tangible improvement in take-home pay will inevitably struggle to retain the trust of the workforce it is intended to support.

‘If the Fair Pay Agreement is going to mean something, it has to result in a genuine improvement in what care workers actually receive. Otherwise, we risk telling them they are valued, while leaving their day-to-day reality largely unchanged.'

Vic Rayner, chief executive of the National Care Forum, said: ‘The government's Fair Pay Agreement offers a significant opportunity to take a different approach by setting out a consistent, fair, and transparent pay framework. This opportunity will only be realised if the FPA is backed by long-term funding, robust infrastructure, and immediate interim measures that support providers during the transition. We must also recognise that ongoing pressures, including National Insurance Contribution increases and successive rises in the NLW are already undermining the ambitions of ethical providers fighting to sustain commitments to Real Living Wage and enhanced terms and conditions that recognise the skills and expertise of the workforce.

'We need government to work with the sector to support activity to deliver a sustainable workforce plan that ensures we have the right people, with the right skills, in place for the future. The measures contained within the workforce strategy collectively created by a range of social care organisations, including Skills for Care and the National Care Forum, offer a solid foundation that can be built upon.'

RCN director of policy, Amber Jabbal, said: ‘Improving wages and workplace rights in social care are crucial to bolstering the sector's workforce and easing pressure on the NHS. But desperately needed reforms have been continually kicked down the road. Nursing staff and those in care do not have years to wait and need to see action now.

‘The Fair Pay Agreement introduced as part of the Employment Rights Act is a much-needed first step, and improving pay in the sector should be a top priority for the new negotiating body. It must be implemented without delay and have real teeth, increasing pay for these essential staff that are critical for the safety of vulnerable patients and the survival of our health and care system.'