The annual Skills for Care Workforce report is based on data provided by a representative sample of employers of England's 1.54 million care workers from which researchers calculate that employers were failing to fill 8% of posts before the pandemic.
That rate had fallen to below 6% by June 2020 - but by August this year the trend had reversed with 8.2% of care sector roles unfilled. This amounts to more than 100,000 posts with no-one to fill them, says Skills for Care.
In 2020/21, local authorities spent £7.8 billion on long-term support for older people, of which £4.8 billion was on nursing or residential care, £2.9 billion on community support, including home care
Each local authority has an amount which they will pay for a given care need. This might be an hourly rate for home care or a weekly fee for residential care. Not all care providers will accept this r
Last year, the average hourly rate paid by local authorities for externally commissioned home care fell 1.1% from £18.65 to £18.44. Source: Social Care 360 – The Kings Fund