North Wales MS and Shadow Social Justice Minister Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to ensure funds are made available to local authorities to enable them to pay all social care workers the real Living Wage.
In Spokespersons Questions to the Social Justice Minister, Jane Hutt MS, during Wednesday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood quoted a Care Home Director in North Wales who has warned that without this increase in wages, more care workers will leave the sector.
Mr Isherwood said:
“Your responsibilities as Minister for Social Justice include the Living Wage in Wales. Welsh Conservatives have been calling for the Welsh Government to align social care staff pay with NHS pay scales, an investment of just £9 million.
“How, therefore, do you respond to the Care Home Director in North Wales who has asked me to raise a question in the Senedd regarding the Welsh Government's commitment to ensuring all the social care workers in Wales are paid the real Living Wage, where the Living Wage Foundation expects that the increase it announced on 22nd September should be paid to employees as soon as possible after the announcement
“He added, 'The Welsh Government has not made funds available to providers, via the Local Authorities, to enable them to pay this increase’, and ‘many of our dedicated workers simply do not have enough money to put food in their freezers, let alone pay their increasing energy bills. We are already seeing a mass exodus of care workers out of the sector. I fear we'll see many more unless providers can increase their wages in line with the Living Wage Foundation's expectations. We simply cannot afford to lose any more'.
“So, I'd be grateful for your response to his question, which is specific to social care staff.”
Although, in her response, the Minister stated that the Welsh Government “delivered the real living wage for our social care workforce”, she failed to answer the question.
Mr Isherwood added:
“You haven't answered my question. The question is: when is the Welsh Government going to make funds available to the Local Authorities to enable them to pay this increase? The question was for the Welsh Government.”
Speaking afterwards, he added:
“We are living in financially challenging times and care workers need to know the answer to this question. To leave them hanging in this way is simply unacceptable. The Welsh Government need to let them know as soon as possible when an increase is likely so that they can plan and budget for the months ahead.”