The Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Department of Health and Social Care Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Unit 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU

13 March 2020

Dear Secretary of State, Coronavirus and the social care workforce

We are writing as cross-party Parliamentarians concerned about the urgent need to provide support to the social care sector in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The social care sector plays a crucial role in supporting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in high-risk groups for Covid-19.

There is a need to ensure both that there are strong protocols in place to keep vulnerable residents safe, and also to ensure continuity of care in the event that a significant proportion of the social care workforce has to take time off during the pandemic.

We welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to provide local government with immediate financial support to protect adult social care services dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks, and the commitment that workers who self-isolate will be eligible for statutory sick pay from day one. We also welcome the guidance from NHS England advising NHS Trusts to: ‘Ensure that any member of staff, including bank staff and sub-contractors, who has to be physically present at an NHS facility to carry out their duties, receives full pay for any period in which they are required to self- isolate as a result of public health advice’.

However, we are concerned that these actions will not protect the quarter of the social care workforce who are currently employed on zero-hours contracts, and that the drop in income which will result from receiving SSP may act as a disincentive to some social care workers to self- isolate, putting vulnerable people at risk.

Most care workers are on low wages and any fall in earnings can cause significant financial hardship for them and their families. We are concerned that SSP, at £94.25 per week, is significantly lower than many care workers will regularly earn, and that many with irregular hours may be unable to prove that they earn the £118 per week threshold to qualify for SSP.

We therefore believe that the guidance to NHS Trusts should be extended to cover social care workers. Not only will this ensure care workers will not face financial detriment if they contract Covid-19, but it will help to delay the virus from spreading within care homes and amongst vulnerable people, potentially saving lives.

It is essential that the social care workforce is placed on an equal footing with the NHS workforce with regard to Covid-19 to ensure the protection of our most vulnerable residents. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Helen Hayes MP

Barbara Keeley MP MP MP MP MP MP Sarah Olney MP Rosena Allin-Khan MP MP Abena Oppong-Asare MP MP MP MP MP Andrew Gwynne MP Kate Osborne MP Tonia Antoniazzi MP MP MP MP MP MP Aspana Begum MP MP MP Hilary Benn MP Mike Hill MP MP Olivia Blake MP MP MP Paul Blomfield MP Wera Hobhouse MP MP Tracy Brabin MP MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP Ben Bradshaw MP MP MP MP Rachel Hopkins MP Naz Shah MP MP MP MP MP MP MP Sarah Champion MP Ruth Jones MP MP MP MP MP MP Diana Johnson MP Jeff Smith MP Daisy Cooper MP MP Karin Smyth MP MP Preet Kaur Gill MP MP Yvette Cooper MP Liz Kendall MP Jamie Stone MP MP Afzal Khan MP MP MP Emma Lewell-Buck MP MP MP Caroline Lucas MP MP MP MP Gareth Thomas MP MP MP Karl Turner MP Martyn Day MP Steve McCabe MP MP MP Kerry McCarthy MP Claudia Webbe MP Allan Dorans MP Andy McDonald MP MP Tan Singh Dhesi MP Alison McGovern MP MP MP Catherine McKinnell MP Philippa Whitford MP Rosie Duffield MP MP MP Chris Elmore MP MP Nadia Whittome MP MP Carol Monaghan MP Munira Wilson MP MP Layla Moran MP Beth Winter MP Marion Fellows MP Stephen Morgan MP Mohammad Yasin MP MP MP MP

Baroness Brinton Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)