Andrew Harrop

But funding the FPA from April 2028 isn't consistent with the ministers' current spending plans

- Only around £1.4bn new funding is planned for social care in 2028
- The FPA and regular pay rises would consume at least £900m

The sector should negotiate in good faith, hoping more ££ comes later 2/2

Paying for fair pay The social care Fair Pay Agreement will be introduced in 2028. But can it be funded from existing spending plans?

Post on DHSC's plans for the social care Fair Pay Agreement

- The proposals are robust
- April 2028 launch sensible
- The £500m budget for the FPA is enough to start bargaining (esp as it only covers publicly-paid care)

But more will be needed >2029

1/2

cradle2grave.substack.com/p/paying-for...

Keir’s goal of an end to child poverty and childhood hunger is HUGE.

It requires a reordering of labour markets, housing markets, public services and social security. Now we need a plan to make it happen.

Fabian general secretaries, 2003-25 @sundersays.bsky.social 2003-11 with @andrewharrop.bsky.social 2011-24 & @joedromey.bsky.social 2025-onwards

“Not taking a penny in benefits”

Seriously?

Child benefit
Universal credit while working
State pension based on contribution
PIP with severe disability?

It was a gradual process

Join | Fabian Society Fabian Society

A good day to join the Fabians…

fabians.org.uk/membership/j...

Rachel Reeves urged to break Labour manifesto pledge and raise income tax Resolution Foundation suggests chancellor should cut employee national insurance to ease burden on workers

There is sound logic to a ‘tax switch’ from employee NICs to income tax, not least for the slice of NI that goes to the NHS.

But LAB doesn’t have political headroom to raise taxes on mid income pensioners now.

➡️Reeves should do this switch only with the higher/additional rate

on.ft.com/3KhcUtu

Health levy needed to stem tide of people leaving UK workforce, says think-tank Ministers are increasingly concerned about rising number dropping out of employment due to sickness and disability

Excellent to see proposals on workplace health published by @thefabians.bsky.social concluding a project we were setting up as I left.

A serious plan for large employers to fund quality occupational health & government to help SMEs

on.ft.com/3Inh1U4

It’s hard to argue that pay is out of control when it’s only a whisker over inflation.

Bike crashes rise during Tube strike, ambulance service says Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has faced criticism for not doing more to settle the dispute between the RMT union and Transport for London

Bike crashes requiring ambulance attendance were up 44%

Which means cycling in London during the strike was even safer than usual… rider numbers were well over double

www.thetimes.com/article/fca8...

Historic budget deficits and IMF projections through 2030 for G7 members

🚨 How bad is UK fiscal vs G7 peers?
on.ft.com/462WKLd

As with Trump, it’s never just about ‘illegal’ immigration

Life’s getting a bit more crap here if you are a person from an ethnic minority 🧵

NEW POST - National Care Service: A Quiet First Step

The government has taken a big step towards creating the National Care Service without telling anyone!

...all in one paragraph of this summer's Fair Funding proposals for local government finance

cradle2grave.substack.com/p/national-c...

1. New data shows employers investing 36% less in training per employee than in 2005 in real terms. This is both a cause and consequence of low economic growth & policy instability. It comes alongside a £1bn (20%) real terms cut in Government investment in adult skills in England compared to 2010.

Things that could get overlooked?

- turning saving pots into pensions for life

- pushing saving beyond minimum defaults

- urgent action to dig Gen X out of a hole

Top of commissioners’ in-tray:

- whether and how to raise pension contributions

- state pension adequacy & affordability

- tackling inequalities & widening access

2/3

The Pensions Commission resurrected A comprehensive review of pensions adequacy could lead to higher retirement incomes and lower inequalities

New substack post: The pensions commission resurrected

- Incomes for private pensions are set to plunge in the next 2 decades

- Almost half of working age adults aren’t saving

Will the new review find answers?

1/3

cradle2grave.substack.com/p/the-pensio...

The government’s Pensions Commission, launched on monday, presents an important opportunity to address these challenges.

To find out more about how to help end pensioner poverty, read ‘Mature decisions’ & 'When I'm 64' 👇

fabians.org.uk/publication/...

fabians.org.uk/publication/...

Higher income Gen-Xers are in for a HUGE shock re their (our!) retirement incomes. DWP stats show a high-earner retiring in 2043 will have 13% LESS income than their 2027 peer.

With policy change ruled out until 2030, ministers are leaving 40/50s to sort for themselves

www.gov.uk/government/s...

(3) permission to think about:

- non-pension assets ('and wider savaings')
- income/work problems before state pension age ('supporting those approaching retirement')
- long-term, macro issues of ageing (...could go anywhere?)

(4) As expected, no policies to take effect this parliament

2/2

Pensions Commission: Terms of Reference

Immediate thoughts on the Pensions Commission terms of reference:

(1) exclusively about future pensioners (are there no issues facing current cohorts?)

(2) to focus on lowest income / risk of poverty AND biggest under-savers (these are mainly not the same people)

1/2

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Framing the Future | Fabian Society Fabian Society

Today I'm feeling nostalgic for this 2020 joint report from @thefabians.bsky.social & @brightblueuk.bsky.social on the case for a new PENSIONS COMMISSION.

Only 5 years too soon... with lots of ideas on how to make the commission work re remit, operation & impact

fabians.org.uk/publication/...

Great thread on tax patterns from Matt, showing rich(-ish) are earning more and paying more of the national pie, and middle are earning less and paying less

The proof that benefits pay more than a full-time job Unemployed people on sickness benefits are to receive thousands of pounds more per year than some workers

The 'work disincentive' argument implied here is completely disingenuous because people would keep PIP (& a decent chunk of their UC) if they moved into work

The vast majority of people in this position would rather be working if their health allowed 2/2 www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

People on benefits earning more than millions of minimum-wage workers A think tank has warned that ‘perverse incentives’ within the benefits system mean that welfare can sometimes be more lucrative than employment

The @csjthinktank.bsky.social don’t seem to understand the benefit system they and their patron designed!

PIP and UC rightly make disabled people much better off if they work on the minimum wage than if they don’t

www.thetimes.com/article/d6ed...

‘Punishing workers for getting old’: how South Korea’s wage system impoverishes the elderly As nation moves to raise retirement age, new report warns the real problem isn’t when people retire, but how

Wow - how not to do ageing, work and retirement

Assumptions, untruths & prejudices here we defeated 20+ years ago in the UK (though always more to do)

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

And of course there is always the call for ‘a Minister for X thing’