Care sector Workers to get pay rise from 2028 to help recruitment

Care workers in England are to receive a substantial pay increase from 2028 after the creation of a new body of trade unions and employers designed to stem the exodus of workers from the sector by improving wages and conditions.

- Jessica Elgot

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, will put £500m behind the initial increase and will begin this year to establish the new negotiating body, which will create a fair pay agreement. However, unions have warned that the future pay increases will need “substantially more” investment.

The move was promised as part of a slew of measures in Labour’s workers’ rights package, intended to create better pay and conditions in the sector, where low pay and insecure work have led to a recruitment crisis.

The final increase will be negotiated by the body - the first of its kind in the country - with the budget set by government also used to improve conditions at work.