Social care practice leaders offer ‘expertise and support’ to government in bid to shape policy

Social care practice leaders have offered their “expertise and support” to the new Labour government in a bid to shape policy on the sector.

The offer has been made by a new grouping – the Social Care Professional Leads Collective – consisting of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) Leads Network, the Adult Principal Social Worker (PSW) Network and the Principal Occupational Therapists (POT) Network.

The co-chairs of the networks have written to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting and care minister Stephen Kinnock seeking a meeting on how they can help Labour deliver on its social care objectives.

“Together, across our networks we can bring extensive expertise and experience of social care delivery to ministers and policy makers to support their strategic objectives and achievement of manifesto commitments,” they told Streeting and Kinnock.

They said they were particularly well-placed to support the government through their direct connections to frontline social work, AMHP and OT practice, alongside their role as sector leaders.

Influencing Mental Health Act reform

The collective is particularly looking to influence the government’s approach to reforming the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA), which was included in last month’s King’s Speech, and to make the case for investment in social care, including as a way of preventing needs for healthcare.

In relation to MHA reform, the networks will argue that there is much that could be done to achieve the objectives of the reform – including reducing the number of people detained in hospital – by improving practice under the law as it stands, including by bolstering AMHPs’ role in preventing detention.

This was an argument made last month by the AMHP Leads Network, which said that this would allow time for the government to “take a more radical approach” to MHA reform than was put forward by its Conservative predecessor.

The collective is also keen to work with Streeting and Kinnock on their long-term plan to develop a national care service, a key Labour manifesto commitment though an idea that has not been fleshed out by the party.

Scrapping of cap on care costs and training fund

The networks’ intervention follows the new government’s decision to scrap two social care initiatives developed by its predecessor: the adult social care charging reforms, including the cap on care costs, and a planned increase in funding for staff training.

Both decisions were taken in order to save money, in the context of what Labour claimed was a “£22bn hole in the public finances” left by its predecessor, though this includes £9.4bn attributable to the new government’s decision to implement independent bodies’ recommendations for public sector pay.

However, the decisions have been heavily criticised by sector bodies, with a group of social care leaders issuing an open letter to Streeting last week urging him to “change course on social care”.

Besides influencing policy, the networks said they wanted to work together to promote innovation and good practice in social care, to improve the quality and efficiency of services, and “champion professional development opportunities for social care lead practitioners”.