Care workers set to receive annual NHS‑style pay rises under Starmer pledge
The government is establishing the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body to determine statutory pay rates for care-sector staff starting in 2028. This move intends to address high turnover and staffing shortages by aligning care-worker pay structures with the NHS model.
Care workers in England will start receiving the same annual pay rises that NHS staff have fought for, a move that the Starmer government says will lift wages for the sector’s 1.5 million employees and bring the pay gap with health‑care workers into sharper focus.
What has changed
From April 2028 the new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will set “NHS‑style” annual pay increases for all care‑sector staff, whether they work for a local authority or a private provider. The body, modelled on the NHS’s Agenda for Change system, will have the power to agree statutory pay rates each year.
Media additions
The £500 million funding package announced by the Department for Health and Social Care this summer will underwrite the first round of negotiations, which begins in April 2027. The first agreed pay rates are expected to be applied from April 2028.
Why it matters now
Care workers currently earn an average of £12.60 an hour – roughly £24,000‑£25,000 a year – a figure that is about £7,000 less than the typical NHS employee in a comparable role. The sector has long suffered from “decades of under‑funding”, high turnover and staffing shortages, problems that the new pay agreement is designed to tackle.
“They’re just such a vital part of our workforce, and they deserve much better than they’ve had, and that is what this fair pay agreement is all about,” Care Minister Stephen Kinnock told The i Paper. He added that the £500 million “is not a silver bullet” but “a really important down payment on the future for the care workforce”.
Trade union leader Paul Nowak of the TUC welcomed the move, saying that “the Fair Pay Agreement will help lift the floor of pay and conditions in the sector”.
How the deal sits alongside NHS pay moves
In parallel, the government has confirmed a 3.3 % increase for NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts for 2026‑27, a figure that is above the 2.5 % level the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) claimed it could afford in a submission to the NHS Pay Review Body. Union leaders called the 2.5 % proposal “an insult”.
Social workers employed by the NHS in England and Wales will also receive a 3.3 % rise, as confirmed by Community Care. The pay rise is described by the NHS Pay Review Body as “necessary to sustain improvements in recruitment and retention”.
Thus, while NHS staff and NHS‑employed social workers are set for a 3.3 % uplift, care workers will receive a negotiated increase that mirrors the NHS model but is not expressed as a fixed percentage at this stage.
Key points of disagreement
- The DHSC’s written evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body suggested a 2.5 % uplift was the ceiling without trade‑offs, yet the government accepted a 3.3 % rise, implying additional funding or reprioritisation.
- Unions representing NHS staff – including UNISON, the Royal College of Nursing and GMB – have branded the government’s 2.5 % ceiling “an insult” and warned it would “go down badly across the NHS”.
- Community Care noted that unions boycotted the pay review process, arguing that the 3.3 % award would still be a “real‑terms pay cut” because it sits just below the 3.4 % consumer price index inflation measured to December 2025.
What the new negotiating body will do
The Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will bring together trade union representatives and employers, granting care workers voting rights on pay, terms and broader employment matters. An independent chair, to be appointed in early 2027, will oversee the process. The first round of talks begins in April 2027, with the first statutory pay rates slated for April 2028.
Negotiations will also cover “wider employment matters” such as working hours, pension contributions and career progression – issues that have previously been “the missing piece” of care‑worker contracts.
Comparison of pay‑rise frameworks
| Group | 2026‑27 Pay Rise | Funding / Mechanism |
|---|---|---|
| NHS staff (Agenda for Change) | 3.3 % | Government acceptance of NHS Pay Review Body recommendation; £211 bn health budget |
| NHS social workers (England & Wales) | 3.3 % | Approved by UK and Welsh governments after PRB recommendation |
| Care workers (England) | Annual increase “NHS‑style” (percentage not yet set) | £500 million fund; new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body |
Financial context for care workers
The sector accounts for 19 % of local authority budgets for adult social care and 11 % for children’s services. In 2024/25, local authorities spent £34.5 bn on social care, a 4.1 % rise on the previous year. The King’s Fund warned that rising staff costs – partly driven by recent minimum‑wage increases – are already pushing up private‑pay fees.
Scotland’s care workforce already benefits from a “real living wage” uplift to £13.45 per hour, introduced in April 2026. The Scottish Trade Unions Congress warned that a UK‑wide negotiating body could risk leaving Scotland “behind”.
What to watch next
- April 2027: First round of negotiations between the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body and employers.
- April 2028: Implementation of the first statutory pay rates for care workers.
- Later in 2028‑29: The next spending review, which will set out long‑term funding for care‑worker wages beyond the £500 million down‑payment.
- Ongoing: Union responses to the new framework and any industrial action that may arise if negotiations stall.
Why the timing matters for the wider system
Labour’s pledge to bring care‑worker pay in line with NHS staff arrives as the health sector confronts a surge in private‑health demand. A Yahoo News report notes that almost a million Britons now pay for private treatment each year, driven by long NHS waiting lists for diagnostics and routine care.
By improving pay and conditions in the care sector, the government hopes to curb staff shortages that have forced many local‑authority homes to “evict” residents or raise fees, as highlighted in the i Paper. A more stable workforce could ease pressure on NHS hospitals, which increasingly rely on social‑care partners for discharge planning.
And if care workers receive a reliable, transparent pay trajectory, the sector may become a more attractive career path for new entrants – a point underscored by the NHS’s own graduate‑pay initiatives announced alongside the 3.3 % rise for NHS staff.
The alignment of pay structures across health and social care signals a shift toward a more integrated “public health ecosystem”. Whether that integration will translate into shorter waiting times, lower private‑health uptake and better outcomes remains to be seen – but the next few years will test the durability of the new funding and negotiation arrangements.
For readers tracking the impact on their own earnings, the NHS Pay Rise Calculator provides a quick way to model take‑home pay changes under the Agenda for Change framework.
