Care England’s Working Age Adult Group (WAAG)
Care England’s Working Age Adult Special Interest Group brings together individuals working with those with a learning disability and autistic people. Meeting monthly and creating a collaborative forum to share good practice, provider concerns, and sector-specific updates. Members of the group receive ad-hoc briefings on particular issues, relevant reports, and ongoing consultations
Below you will find the recent notes and minutes from monthly meetings, information packs, briefs and webinar recordings.
If you are not a member of the WAAG and would like to join the group, please email Fraser Rickatson, Policy Manager at frickatson@careengland.org.uk.
To go back to the other special interest groups, please click here.
To access relevant working age adult resources and guidance please click here.
To view Care England’s Priorities, please click here.
Working Age Adults Group Meetings 2025
18 November 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The group discussed major consultations on new mothers’ rights, bereavement, settlement routes, ILR and the Fair Pay Agreement, highlighting safeguarding, cost pressures and administrative burdens. Members raised concerns about sponsorship fees, Value in Care costing tools, and voluntary-hours risks.
You can find the agenda here, and minutes here.
21 October 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The meeting covered the Employment Rights Bill’s impact on agency workers, urging members to assess potential exposure and prepare for 2026–27 changes. Members discussed the Fair Work Agency’s 2026 launch, modern slavery compliance, and upcoming trade-union recognition reforms Updates were given on the Oliver McGowan training letters, Fair Pay Agreement consultation, and a new working group to produce a 2026 choking-prevention report.
You can find the agenda here, and minutes here.
16 September 2025 (13:00-14:00)
This meeting covered Learning Disability England’s Good Lives Framework, updates on the Employment Rights Bill, Oliver McGowan training requirements, and new work on nutrition and choking risks. Actions included Care England preparing guidance on zero-hours contracts, a briefing on training, and a working group with CQC on choking prevention.
You can find the agenda here, slides here and minutes here
19 August 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The Working Age Adult Group meeting focused on showcasing SMART Care Intel as a data-driven tool for quality improvement and negotiation with local authorities, and on updates to Skills for Care’s commissioning training. Members also discussed input into the Work and Pensions Committee’s disability employment inquiry and developing cost-neutral policy ideas for the Casey Commission.
You can find the agenda here, and minutes here.
15 July 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The Working Age Adult Group meeting on 15 July 2025 focused on key updates to the Employment Rights Bill and the NHS UEC Plan, with detailed discussion on future reforms to pay, contracts, and discharge practices. Members were urged to prepare for compliance, contribute to consultations, and engage with the local implementation of the Single Point of Access system.
You can find the agenda here, and minutes here.
17 June 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The Working Age Adult Group meeting on 27 June 2025 explored the implementation and potential of Individual Service Funds (ISFs) for people with learning disabilities, highlighting findings from the NIHR-funded Equals2 project. Emphasis was placed on co-production, accessibility, personalisation, and the importance of flexible, values-driven support backed by new toolkits and calls for local authority pilots and policy reform.
You can find the agenda here, slides here and minutes here.
20 May 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The group discussed the impact of proposed immigration reforms on social care recruitment, strategies for lobbying, and adaptation, alongside contributing to the Autism Act 2009 Inquiry and preparing for engagement with the Casey Commission. Concerns over staffing shortages, funding, and regulatory trends were highlighted, with members encouraged to share insights and participate in upcoming activities.
You can find the agenda here and minutes here.
15 April 2025 (13:00-14:00)
This meeting discusses the Employment Rights Bill and wider reforms affecting the care sector. Key topics included new duties on sexual harassment prevention, unfair dismissal changes, and zero-hours contract reforms. Members also considered welfare updates, the Autism Act 2009 inquiry, and operational challenges across Integrated Care Boards.
You can find the agenda here and minutes here.
18 March 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The meeting focused on the Care England Working Age Adult Policy Board and addressed developments affecting the sector. Discussions covered nursing funding care changes, the implications of revised international recruitment regulations, and ongoing delays in care assessments. The meeting also examined local authority fee uplifts, proposed reforms to Personal Independence Payments, and outlined key areas for future advocacy.
You can find the minutes here.
18 February 2025 (13:00-14:00)
The meeting focused on key sector challenges, including the Stoke-on-Trent case, stressing the legal weight of contracts and Care Act obligations in fee disputes. The Cost of Inaction Inquiry by the Health & Social Care Select Committee was discussed, calling for more representation and feedback from care receivers, providers, and families. Concerns were raised about the Capacity Tracker and upcoming ENIC changes, with scepticism about the effectiveness and fairness of data collection. Updates included issues with the CQC’s Single Assessment Framework, a new National Water Tender, and efforts to reshape struggling care services.
You can find the minutes here.
15 January 2025 (13:00-14:00)
This month, we covered the 2024 Sector Pulse Check Report, addressing financial struggles and workforce shortages in adult social care. Key discussions included the impact of immigration restrictions, the COVID-19 vaccine program for those with learning disabilities, and the need for a unified approach to sector challenges.
You can find the minutes here.
Working Age Adults Group Meetings 2024
20 February 2024 (13:00-14:00)
This month, the Working Age Adult Group came together to discuss priorities for the specialist sector in 2024. The meeting was a chance for members to voice the pressures they’re facing, and what Care England can do to alleviate them.
The meeting was an opportunity to help set the agenda for upcoming sessions and ensure we are actively working together to address the critical problems you are facing and share good practice.
The agenda looked at:
- What are the key issues your organisation is currently facing that are specific to the working age adult sector?
- What issues do you foresee in 2024, if different to the above, that are specific to the working age adult sector?
- How have you overcome, or are preparing to overcome, these issues?
- What support do you want from Care England to support your work?
Meeting materials can be found here.
19 March 2024 (13:00-14:00)
In November 2023, the annual Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) report was published. The report looks into the lives and deaths of people with a learning disability whose deaths had been notified to LeDeR.
For March’s meeting, we were joined by Rachel Snow-Miller, Head of LeDeR at NHS England, who presented the key findings of the report. We discussed:
- How we can make sure the recommendations in the report are realised?
- What are learning disability providers already doing to tackle inequalities?
- What support do providers need from bodies such as the NHS, and local and central government to ensure meaningful change can be made?
Meeting notes can be found here, and presentation slides can be viewed here.
16 April 2024 (13:00-14:00)
Care England was joined by colleagues from Skills for Care, the Royal College of Nursing, and Professor Deborah Sturdy CBE, Chief Nurse for Social Care at DHSC to discuss learning disability nursing. Colleagues presented on the work they are undertaking in this space, before opening up a discussion on:
- How do we recruit LD nurses?
- What’s working well to recruit LD nurses?
- Case studies/best practice collation
- What are the career opportunities for existing staff to become LD nurses?
- What do care providers look for in the recruitment process of LD nurses?
- What do LD nurses offer that other nurses may not?
- What’s working well to recruit LD nurses?
- What does CPD look like for an LD nurse?
- Case study/best practice collation
- How can we create meaningful career pathways for LD nurses?
- How do we reimagine what LD nursing looks like?
- Blue-sky thinking: what needs to change? What needs to be enhanced?
To view the meeting notes, please click here.
21 May 2024 (13:00-14:00)
In May’s WAAG we heard from the Chair of the group, Peter Kinsey, about his work with actors across the sector to identify key issues to prioritise in the year of a general election. Members weighed in on what themes they’d like to see prioritised for discussion with political parties. We also had a discussion on the impact of commissioning for complex care and reducing restrictive practice in the community in advance of our meeting with NHS England and LGA colleagues. Notes from the meeting can be found here, and the presentation slides can be found here.
18 June 2024 (13:00-14:00)
In June, we were joined by Hilary Paxton, Senior Advisor: People with a learning disability and autistic people at Partners in Care and Health and the Local Government Association. We discussed key matters around complex care in the community, and how commissioning can help reduce restrictive practice. Members had the chance to feed into Care England’s work on broader commissioning practice.
For the meeting notes, please click here. For Hilary’s presentation slides, please click here, and for slides on Care England’s ongoing work on commissioning, please click here.
16 July 2024 (13:00-14:00)
Our July meeting focused on what a Labour government might mean for organisations that provide support for working age adults. We heard from a care provider, SeeAbility, who provided an overview areas they could foresee changes that would impact providers, and an overview of the actions they were taking to ensure they are in a position to influence change. We were also joined by Anthony Collins Solicitors, who gave an analysis of the changes to employment law that providers may expect.
For SeeAbility’s slides, please click here. For the rest of the meeting slides, please click here, and for the meeting notes, please click here.
20 August 2024 (13:00-14:00)
Following conversations about commissioning at previous meetings, we were joined at our August meeting by HollyIrwin, Head of Social Care Practice Innovation at Skills for Care, and Lynda Tarpey, CEO of HASCA. We discussed the Principles of Commissioning for Wellbeing Level 5 Qualification, which centres around personalised and outcome-focused approaches to commissioning designed to enable meaningful and fulfilled lives, delivered by HASCA and created by Skills for Care. For more information on the training, please see here. Holly also gave an overview of Skills for Care’s broader work with commissioners.
For Skills for Care slides, please click here. For the rest of the meeting slides, please click here, and for the meeting notes, please click here.
17 September 2024 (13:00-14:00)
In September, the Working Age Adult Group were joined by Emily Williams from NHS England to discuss the work of the Rebuilding Rewarding Lives in the Community Network, which looks at how the health and care system can work together to deliver complex care in the community. The network brings together people from across the sector to share good practice and discuss topics such as restrictive levels of staffing, and the policy context surrounding the care and support of working age adults.
You can view the minutes here.
You can view the slides here.
15 October 2024 (13:00-14:00)
At our monthly meeting, we will be joined by PainChek to discuss pain-related conditions for people living with a learning disability and/or autism and a potential research opportunity.
Currently the tool, which uses AI facial mapping to aid care staff in making pain assessments, has great success for people living with dementia. PainChek is investigating using the tool in working age adult services.
You can view the minutes here.
19 November 2024 (13:00-14:00)
This meeting will focus on addressing the financial and operational challenges arising from recent government budget changes, particularly their impact on National Living Wage increases and Employer National Insurance Contributions. Our goal is to discuss strategic responses and advocacy efforts to support the working-age adult care sector.
You can view the minutes here
Working Age Adults Group Meetings 2023
January 2023
February 2023
March 2023
April 2023
May 2023
June 2023
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
October 2023
November 2023
To request meetings notes prior to 2023 please email frickatson@careengland.org.uk
Interested in joining the WAA Group? Contact Fraser Rickatson, group administrator