* Mario Kreft, chair of Care Forum Wales.
A council has been accused
of adding “insult to injury” by
paying its own staff up to £2,200 more a year than they are willing to shell
out for carers doing the exactly the same job in privately-run care homes.
Care
Forum Wales (CFW), which represents nearly 500 independent providers,
criticised Denbighshire County Council after they announced “derisory”
fee levels announced by Denbighshire County Council for the coming year.
To make matters worse the council had suggested
that they had worked with Care Forum Wales to agree the new rates.
According to Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care
Forum Wales, nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, he said, Denbighshire County Council were
being “totally disingenuous” because they had ignored their requests to pay staff at least the real living
wage.
The
new rates announced by Denbighshire were a kick in the teeth to the army of
courageous care workers who had put their own lives on the line to protect
vulnerable residents during the pandemic.
In Wales, pay rates for carers are effectively determined by local
councils who set the level of fees care homes and domiciliary care companies
receive.
Denbighshire, along with many other authorities and health boards, use a
formula which calculates how much they want to allocate towards all care home
costs, including what staff are paid.
As a result, say Care Forum Wales, wage levels have been unfairly
suppressed by the local authorities who have managed the budgets for 25 years.
In contrast carers working in council-owned homes in Denbighshire are
paid considerably more.
The formula means that private care homes have been only allocated
enough money to pay half their staff £8.72 an hour, going up to £8.91 next
year, while the other half are on a slightly higher rate of £10.21.
In a recent job advert, Denbighshire were offering £9.62 an hour for a
Day Care Assistant at the Cysgod y Gaer Home in Corwen and £10.01 an hour
for Care and Support Assistant at the Llys Awelon Home in Ruthin,
Gorwel Newydd in Rhyl and Nant y Môr in Prestatyn, without any experience being
needed.
That means that the council’s care staff receive between £1,476 and
£2,288 a year more than their counterparts in the private sector for a 40-hour
week.
Last
year Denbighshire County Council was named and shamed as one of the
“meanest” local authorities in Wales when it comes to paying care home
fees.
An
investigation by Care Forum Wales revealed they were in the bottom 10 of the
“league table of shame”.
It
prompted the organisation to launch a campaign to ensure qualified staff
who work in care homes and domiciliary care in Wales are paid a minimum of
£20,000 a year.
According to Care Forum Wales, the valiant response
of care workers in saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted
their true value and it was high time it was recognised by the authorities who
commissioned publicly-funded social care.
It was, said Mr Kreft, a “national disgrace” that
the 2020 Fair Pay campaign was necessary and it was “bitterly disappointing”
that Denbighshire County Council had chosen to ignore it.
The evidence on fees had also highlighted a clear
North-South divide.
Mr Kreft said: “Five of the bottom 10 payers in
Wales are North Wales councils whilst the highest rates are to be found in
South East Wales.
“To illustrate the point care homes in somewhere
like Dinas Powys receive £7,392 a year per resident than a home in Denbigh –
for a home with 40 residents that’s a massive £295,000 a year. Why are
residents in Llandaff worth more than people in Llangollen? It’s just not fair.
“Whilst we accept that local government is under
pressure, the sector would be in dire trouble without the Welsh Government’s
hardship fund.
“The new rates in Denbighshire do not recognise the
extra costs piled on the social care sector as a result of the pandemic.
“To add insult to injury they’re saying they’ve
worked with providers and Care Forum Wales in developing the fees.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. We were
asked for our views, but they have taken no notice whatsoever of the fact that
the workforce is under pressure.
“We totally reject the suggestion that there has
been some kind of agreement on the fees.
“What we’re calling for is that they adjust their
formula so that staff in the private sector can be paid at the same rate as the
council’s own staff.
“Unfortunately,
they totally ignored our requests to pay staff at least the real living wage.
“Denbighshire should follow the example of
neighbouring Powys County Council which has responded in a positive way after
it was highlighted last year that they were the worst paying council in Wales.
“In Powys, the council’s Cabinet has agreed that the fees paid to independent residential
homes should increase by £110 to £120 per person a week, depending on the type
of care residents receive.
“As Powys has shown, this is about political
priorities. They are political decisions not budgetary ones.
“This
is an unforgiveable insult to all the heroic people who have been on the front
line throughout the coronavirus. It’s nothing less than shocking.
“At
the same time, care providers are facing a double whammy of soaring costs and
falling income. Everything has gone up in price with 50 per cent increases in
insurance not uncommon, for less protection and no cover for Covid-related
claims.
“Instead
of clapping for carers Denbighshire County Council are slapping them in the
face condemning them to live on low wages which is an absolute scandal.
“They
should be treated as national treasures for showing tremendous courage as well
as skill and dedication in the face of this frightening disease during a
global pandemic.
“And
then to add insult to injury they pay their own employees working in care homes
at a much higher rate. They deserve so much more.
“We cannot just stand by and
accept that a local authority with a budget of hundreds of millions of pounds
and a statutory responsibility for social care can apply dual standards – for
those who work for the council and those who don’t.
“When we published our
Cheapskate Awards last year, Denbighshire were very unhappy but I make no
apology for bringing this important issue, this injustice, to the attention of
the public when others would seek to hide it.
“Quite frankly the public need
to know and councils need to stop blaming providers for poor terms and
conditions when they themselves set the financial rules. It’s sheer, unashamed
hypocrisy.”
A spokesperson for Denbighshire County
Council said: “The issue of pay and conditions for staff working in the social
care sector is a national one and work is ongoing in Wales through the Social
Care Forum, with input from Denbighshire County Council’s Statutory Director of
Social Services, to explore how this can be addressed in an affordable and
effective way.
"Denbighshire County Council appreciates
the work of independent sector care home providers and their staff and this has
been heightened by their work undertaken throughout the pandemic.
"The Council takes a number of factors
into account in determining what it pays providers, including the need to keep
other essential services operating effectively, while taking account of the
financial settlement from Welsh Government and the level of Council Tax.
"Every year a Regional Fees Group, which
includes a representative from Care Forum Wales, reviews the fee setting
methodology, taking account of inflation and other increases in costs.
"It is then up to each individual Local
Authority, as well as the Local Health Board, to consider the results in
setting their fees.
"Denbighshire provided an above-inflation
fee increase for 2021/22 that ranges from 3.52% to 3.75% depending on the type
of care home. This is in line with Local Authorities across North Wales,
although actual fees vary according to demand and complexity of need.
"In relation to the comparison between
private sector and local authority staff, increases to the National Living Wage
have been greater than pay increases for local authority staff over recent
times, including this coming financial year. In April, the National Living Wage
rises by 2.2% for over 25 year olds, compared to no uplift for local authority
employees bringing the pay gap closer.
"Denbighshire is committed to exploring
how to implement the Real Living Wage for all of its employees and has agreed
to match 2019’s figure of a minimum of £9.30 per hour this year. However, there
is currently no provision in the budget to take this further in the current
climate.”
