Leaders urged to be more vociferous

Social care chiefs must be more assertive if they are to get anything out of next year’s comprehensive spending review, according to head of training body Skills for Care Andrea Rowe (pictured).

Ministers and civil servants were open to lobbying for increased funding but stakeholders had to state their case, she said.

Rowe was speaking in the context of the Options for Excellence social care workforce review, which is set to report next month.

English Community Care Association chief executive Martin Green, who also sits on the Options for Excellence advisory board, said: “There’s a recognition of a need for extra investment. The acid test will be whether that investment materialises.”

The review has split into four task forces, including civil servants and stakeholders, but Rowe said two of the groups, covering workforce capacity and an overall vision for the workforce, were yet to deliver significant findings. But there had been better progress in social work and workforce quality.