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SOCIAL CARE KEY TO LEVELLING UP
SOCIAL CARE ADDS £58.8BN TO THE BRITISH ECONOMY
SECTION 5: THE IMPACT
The Government’s Levelling Up Agenda says: “Good jobs and career opportunities where people live are central to the Government’s levelling up ambitions. The route to achieving this is through greater devolution, which would empower local leaders to create local, integrated skills and employment offers tailored to the needs of local economies and residents.“ 38
So, why is investment in social care omitted from the Levelling Up Agenda? Far from being a cost centre, social care is an untapped enabler of, and contributor to, the communities that need this boost the most. And it is a sector crying out for professional development.
As well as providing 2 million jobs across England and Scotland alone, which are largely rooted in areas of greater economic need, social care stimulates several other local sectors, boosting the purchasing of goods such as cleaning products and services, food and
drink, building maintenance services, utilities, financial services, education and training, furniture and household goods, medical supplies, transport services and fuel.
Social care delivered £58.8bn to the economy in Great Britain in 202239.
The financial implications of losing economically active people from the workforce – especially at a time when employment is high and the labour market extremely competitive as a result – are significant.
Carers UK estimate that the British workforce loses around 600 people of working age every day due to them being forced to give up work to support a loved one, who is unable to access social care.
However, from the perspective of the person being supported, there is a wealth of evidence which shows that professional social care support can increase and prolong independence and delay the progression of other complex health needs, such as dementia. Social care provision also reduces the need for avoidable placements in NHS hospitals and greater consumption of GP, police and other healthcare services.
But social care is also a stimulus for high-growth sectors that reach beyond the national economy, such as technology and scientific research. Solutions designed for health
and social care frequently go on to become mainstream, consumer-facing technologies and innovations across
the globe.
38. The Levelling Up agenda, House of Commons, 15 June 2021
There are also models of support, technologies and building designs that promote greater quality of life for individuals, yet ultimately deliver a more cost-effective way of providing support for the taxpayer. There are compelling efficiencies that can be found in greater integration of services, adopting innovative technologies that promote independence and reduce dependence upon paid support.
There is also considerable scope to make public money go further, simply by focusing investment and commissioning on organisations that have an absolute commitment to fully utilising their investment for public good. At their very best, social care providers don’t just offer services – they positively shape communities and deliver enormous social value.
Many providers, like Community Integrated Care, can point to developing innovative community and technological programmes which have been academically assessed
as achieving an enormous social return on investment.
Our sector is constantly seeking to attract talented new people who can bring fresh passion, ideas and skills to transform the lives of the people we support. Social care is innately vocational. But people need a career, not a job, and this is why workforce reform is needed to make that possible.
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39. Data gathered from: The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England (October 2022), Scotland’s care Sector: An Economic Driver, The Enable Group (September 2021) and The Economic Value of the Adult Social Care sector – Wales – ICF Consulting 2018