Fiscal Drag Will Strip Billions from Care Workers and Undermine Fair Pay Agreement

Councils call for active role in negotiations to ensure government’s flagship care pay plan is affordable and workable

Councils today call for a collaborative role in negotiations to improve the pay and conditions for care workers, with local authorities fearing they are being asked to ‘shoulder the policy’s risk without having a meaningful say’. Last Autumn the government announced £500m for its first Fair Pay Agreement, designed to improve pay and conditions for care workers, allocated from 2028/29 to councils. The government suggests this could fund a 3% pay …

Frozen tax thresholds could slash care workers’ pay

If income tax and national insurance remain at current levels, new research warns care workers could lose an estimated £1.4bn in take-home pay.  Care England has published data showing frozen income tax and national insurance thresholds could reduce care workers’ earnings by around £1.4bn before the Fair Pay Agreement comes into effect in April 2028.  The Fair Pay Agreement, announced in September last year, is designed to set minimum standards …

Fiscal Drag Will Strip Billions from Care Workers and Undermine Fair Pay Agreement

Care England has today published new analysis warning that frozen Income Tax and National Insurance thresholds will remove an estimated £1.4 billion from care workers’ take-home pay before the Fair Pay Agreement, with only £0.5 billion allocated to deliver the reform, even comes into force in April 2028. Care England’s modelling shows that fiscal drag caused by thresholds remaining frozen until 2031 following the decision taken by this Governmen…

Care England warns of £1.4bn cut from care workers’ pay caused by frozen tax thresholds - THIIS Magazine

New analysis warning that frozen Income Tax and National Insurance thresholds will remove £1.4 billion from care workers’ take-home pay