National Minimum Wage (NMW) 2024-25 is in effect. There has never been such a significant year-on-year increase (9.8%) in its twenty-three-year history. The increase from £10.42 to £11.44 is important for eligible workers (it should also be noted the age limit has been reduced from twenty-three to twenty-one).

For organisations and providers, the rise in minimum pay may enable the sector to attract more staff, which has seen persistent challenges in recruitment and retention.

Nonetheless, the NMW increase is a double-edged sword for the care sector which has been challenged by chronic underfunding for years. Staffing costs are significant and most care providers are unable to pass on these increases.

At Marr Procurement, we recognise that the NMW uplift is unlikely to be covered by Local Authority uplifts and we know how to bridge this gap without compromising on the quality or continuity of care. We address spend by delivering savings which in turn alleviates such cost pressures, ensuring your teams can continue to do more of their best work.

It’s never too late to take action…

We have developed a series of top tips that every care provider utilising temporary labour and bank teams should consider. To truly understand the impact of the NMW on contingent labour costs high performing clients have taken four initial steps as summarised in the diagram below.

You can take four fundamental steps to put your organisation in the best position possible to manage the forthcoming change in the NMW. We approach these as questions:

Visibility of Uplift - Have you requested visibility of proposed uplifts to your agency costs from your providers, ensuring you can see all rate components?

Review Assumptions - Have you reviewed any assumptions, communicated with your locations and used operational insights to confirm whether these are appropriate?

Assess Impact - Have you considered the commercial implications of proposed changes and their impact on service provision?

Benchmark - The market is changing and some social care providers have had success by challenging their supply base to pass on deflation.

Marr Procurement is proud to be the care sector procurement specialist and over the last nine years has helped over sixty social care organisations to deliver millions of pounds of audited savings.

Why not arrange a no-obligation call with one of our resourcing experts: CLICK HERE

National Minimum Wage Increase April 2024