(Liverpool, Wavertree)
(Lab)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about
the national minimum wage; and for connected purposes.
Before I begin, I want to place on record that for several years
before entering Parliament I served as regional convenor for
Unison North West. I also worked in local government for over
three decades, and I remain a member of Unison, my trade union,
to this day. I want to pay tribute to the fantastic work of my
own Unison region in the north-west for organising frontline care
workers as part of the Care Workers for Change campaign. Under
the stewardship of Kevin Lucas, it has delivered pay rises for
thousands of care workers, particularly across Greater Manchester
and now the Liverpool city region, winning for working people in
an unforgiving sector with often poor employment practices.
After being elected in December 2019, I put my name into the
private Members’ Bills ballot for the first time, and I was
really surprised to be drawn very near the top, especially given
that it was the first time of entering. Little did I realise that
the pandemic had other ideas, and after failed attempts and
cancelled Friday sittings, my private Member’s Bill was timed
out. Nevertheless, here we are today, such is my belief in the
significance of the low-paid, their contribution to our economy
and wider society, and in their skill and dedication to their
professions. No examples of this shine any brighter than in the
adult care sector.
This year has been the most difficult for our people, especially
those who face the uncertainty and insecurity that low pay can
bring. The economic crisis and the pandemic before it have
brought front and centre the workers who keep our economy going.
They are our shop assistants in supermarkets, our care workers,
those working in transport and logistics, and all manner of
people operating across different sectors of the labour market.
This Bill would ensure that they have confidence, because that is
so often what precarious workers lack—in this case, confidence
that they are properly renumerated for their labour under the
law.
My Bill does not seek to overhaul the law as it stands, but
rather to place a greater emphasis on enforcement, which would be
to the benefit of all workers. The national minimum wage stands
as one of my party’s and the trade union movement’s finest
achievements. It was pioneered by one of my heroes, Rodney
Bickerstaffe, whom I was lucky enough to call a friend. Long
before it was popular to do so, Rodney pioneered this incredible
national minimum wage.
Before entering this place, I had acquired years of experience
working in close contact with the care sector. I refer to social
care as a Cinderella service—the forgotten service. Indeed, it
will be four years in July since the then Prime Minister, the
right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (), boldly promised to fix the
long-standing crisis in social care in his first 100 days in
office, yet here we are two Prime Ministers later, and we are
still waiting.
Among this fantastically underpaid, undervalued workforce exist
home care and domiciliary care workers—unsung heroes every single
one of them. In every hon. and right hon. Member’s constituency,
in every region and nation of these islands, this very second,
home care workers are tending to the needs of our people,
providing elderly residents with the independence and dignity
they deserve. They are the very people who during their shift,
starting early and finishing late, help an elderly resident get
out of their bed in the morning, bathe and dress them, provide
breakfast and administer medication, as well as tidying the
person’s home, before returning to their vehicle or public
transport and travelling to their next appointment. Just as
importantly, they are a point of contact for those who often face
social isolation and loneliness. A brief chat or a catch-up can
provide much-needed companionship.
In England alone, there are over 715,000 workers working in the
home care sector. The vast majority of them are women, and a huge
number are on zero-hours contracts. My Bill will ensure
accountability for those workers, and provide a framework of
safeguards and minimum standards to be overseen by our local
councils as the commissioners of services. The scale of the issue
cannot be downplayed. A pre-pandemic article published in January
2019 on homecare.co.uk found that over half of home care workers
are paid less than the national minimum wage because employers
are not properly paying for travel time between visits. That time
spent travelling between visits is the crux of the issue
here.
Over 50% of England’s local authorities do not state in their
contracts that firms must pay employees for time travelling
between visits according to a freedom of information request.
Furthermore, a survey of home care workers revealed that 63% are
only paid for the time spent in people’s homes. Ultimately, this
means that for too many care workers hourly pay rates fall well
short of the Government’s national living wage and take many
under the threshold of the national minimum wage. The UK Homecare
Association, which represents providers, estimates that staff
spend a huge 19% of their working day travelling between homes;
that is almost a fifth of their working day. And no mileage
expenses come anywhere near covering the cost of any
shortfall.
In a sector that is deeply troubled with issues around
recruitment and retention, my Bill would represent a genuine
opportunity for the Government to clamp down on malpractice. It
is a profession with a calling, and while no disrespect is
intended to workers in other sectors, the home care market should
not be losing workers to Tesco, Amazon, Nando’s and the like—but
it is doing so, as we speak. For 2021-22, the vacancy rate across
the entire sector stood at 165,000, with a slightly higher
vacancy rate in domiciliary over residential care. It was only
last month that the Government announced a new fund over the next
12 months to aid international recruitment in the adult social
care sector.
Things must change as part of a longer-term strategy and
investment in adult social care. Those on the Government Benches
will undoubtedly say that provisions for enforcement under His
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs guidance already exist. In fact, if
I remember rightly, they were broadly supportive of my original
private Member’s Bill and assured me that the issues I raised
would be addressed in their forthcoming employment Bill. I am
unsure if Hansard can feasibly be expected to pick up on the use
of light sarcasm in this place, but I for one am still very much
looking forward to the Government bringing forward such an
important Bill.
In all seriousness, the figures mentioned earlier demonstrate
that the existing system is not adequate for our army of home
care workers across this country. For commissioned domiciliary
services, local councils can, if given the powers, be the body
that delivers pay transparency and minimum and effective pay
assurances with real enforcement in defence of workers. Some
councils are already doing this to some degree, but others are
not. The Government are very well versed in defining and
redefining the roles and responsibilities of local government so
why not provide a statutory footing for home care workers that
avoids a patchy postcode lottery? My Bill will work for employee
and employer.
In the spirit of co-operation, I commend this Bill to all Members
no matter their party allegiance. Let us make a real, tangible
difference here today to all workers, not least those on the
frontline caring for those who need it most. It is after all, a
small but significant change.
Rodney Bickerstaffe said of our roles in the labour movement:
“We do our bit and pass it on”.
The same goes, I am sure, for Members across this Chamber. In the
same vein as Bick, I hope that I too can play my small part in
speaking up on behalf of our low paid while I have a voice in
this place.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That , , , , , , , , , , and present the Bill.
accordingly presented the
Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 24
November, and to be printed (Bill 267).
