Social Care News

CFW calls for budget boost to be ringfenced for social care

Care Forum Wales is urging the Welsh Government to use its £200m budget windfall to boost the “crisis-hit” social care sector in Wales.

The call comes after Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced a boost to England's social care budget and promised £200m for the devolved Welsh Government under the Barnett Formula – but the CFW is concerned that this money will not be used for social care.

Mary Wimbury, CFW's senior policy advisor, said: “The £2bn mentioned in the budget by the Chancellor is specifically for England. Although he also promised an extra £200m in consequential funding for the devolved Welsh Government over the next four years under the Barnett Formula, this can be spent on any devolved area and none of it is specifically earmarked for the care sector.

“There’s a big question mark over exactly how much of this money will go into social care but we are calling for it to be ring-fenced for this purpose.

“The sector is also struggling with a significant number of care homes closing and local authorities are trying to get people to deliver care packages which they are just unable to do.

“We all want to see care sector staff being properly rewarded but just to meet the costs of the minimum wage increase to the sector for 2016-17 and 2017-18 we need £80m.

“The increases we’ve seen in the minimum wage over the past few years haven’t been reflected in the fees paid by local authorities and health boards to the providers of care homes and domiciliary care.”

Read the full story on the WalesOnline website.