£30 fee ‘may doom care staff register’

Plans to register all residential and home care staff will fail without significant government funding, the English Community Care Association (Ecca) has warned.

In its response to the General Social Care Council’s consultation on registration, which closed last Friday, Ecca said low-paid staff would be unwilling to pay annual  fees of up to £30 while employers would struggle to meet them.

Ecca also said plans to register service managers could duplicate existing requirements for them to register with the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

The United Kingdom Home Care Association said managers should face compulsory registration so they could “lead by example”, but it rejected registration fees.

The UKHCA, along with Action on Elder Abuse, backed the registration of people employed by direct payment users, who would not face registration under the plans.