No low pay for residential workers because of the ‘new and ever-growing Jenga tower we are holding together’
This year’s ADCS President made reference to Josh MacAllister’s Jenga allusion.
The actual quote is from 2021 Case for Change report is, “Our children’s social care system is a 30-year-old tower of Jenga held together with Sellotape: simultaneously rigid and yet shaky.”
There are parts of the current DfE policy programme that do not match up to others, others that are not matching reality, others such a regional care cooperatives that are contradictory (ending private providers but regional care cooperatives seeking their cooperation). The policy programme is now a highly crafted sleek position that has responded to all the critiques made of MacAllister policy and is now made as plausible as impregnable. The problem is reality. The current calm and silence is more to do with people waiting to see the full picture before responding. Every action has a reaction. We have not seen it yet, so we have not seen the policy programme when it gets pressurised. It is not a question of if, but when,
It is reminiscent of Brecht’s poem ‘The solution’
the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
The 2026 ADCS President, Ann Graham, speech posed the question, “…is this good enough for my child?’ if the answer is no, we can often find ourselves looking for solutions in a system that’s constrained” as we work to communities where children feel safe and thrive. Across social work/care we hold “collective aspirations for the care system and the children in our care”.
In the 2021 version of ‘What is care for?’ the ADCS “recognised and acknowledged a further and important purpose of the care system, and that was to provide relationships that are meaningful, where there is an emotional commitment from adults, so children feel loved; it is the difference between being cared for and being cared about…”.
An continues, “It can feel challenging to raise these issues in a political and diverse world, but we mustn’t shy away, it’s incumbent on us all to strive to do more”, and “While money is important, this isn’t just about money, it’s about setting strong foundations upon which to build, workforce, culture, those conditions of success that are so important, set against a backdrop of a decade and a half of being stripped to the bone. “
Ann closed her speech urging government to “To stand alongside us, and children, to secure the very best settlement for them and for their futures. seeking for us all “to secure the very best settlement for them and for their futures”.
We read it and were not doubting not dissent.
The we read the salaries of BBC DJs, TV newsreaders or presenters.
We were left with the question: If they are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds then how much is a residential child care worker, or a foster carer, or someone offering kinship, worth?
Each saving or reduction is based on money not being available to address the already low pay of a Residential Child Care worker. N where in the policy programme is the low pay of Residential Child Care addressed.
The policy programme is not engaging with reality if it does not address low pay. It can be done through A Fair Agreement being an essential part of each regional care cooperative.
A Burnham government can recognise and to rectify decades of low pay. Here’s why and how
Explaining the Theory and Practice for Fair Pay in Residential Child Care – NCERCC
2025 Fair Pay for Residential Child Care Workers – Fair Pay Agreements – NCERCC
