The Health Secretary said staff had been undervalued and underpaid for too long as Labour set out plans to improve careers in social care.
Care workers will be covered by a legally binding fair-pay agreement, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has told Labour's conference, as she announced plans for a new national collective pension scheme for the sector.
Speaking in Liverpool, Cooper said care workers had been "undervalued and underpaid for far too long". She pledged minimum standards for pay and conditions, alongside better training and clearer career pathways.
The fair-pay agreement was already being developed before conference. Trade unions and employers are expected to begin negotiations in April 2027, with the first agreement planned to take effect in April 2028. The government has allocated £500 million for that first settlement. Pay rates have yet to be negotiated.
Cooper's new announcement was the proposed collective pension scheme. She said it was wrong that people who help others maintain dignity in old age can face financial insecurity in their own retirement. The government has not yet set out how the scheme will be funded, who will qualify or when it will begin.
UNISON, which campaigned for a collective pension scheme, welcomed the commitment but urged ministers to work with unions to make it a reality. Care England, which represents care providers, also backed the announcement.
The measures form part of Labour's wider ambition to build a National Care Service. For the workforce, the next test will be whether negotiations deliver meaningful improvements to pay and conditions-and whether the pension pledge becomes a practical scheme for staff across the sector.
