Walsall Council agrees care pay increase amid row
A council has increased the rate it pays to care providers amid a row which had seen companies take on less work.
Walsall Council has agreed to increase the hourly rate paid to providers to £14.88 from £14.33. The previous rate was widely criticised and thought to be the lowest in the West Midlands.
It is the first time the authority has budged in its dispute with care providers which has gone on for months, and authority chiefs hope the move will take some heat out of the row.
Bosses of care providers working in the borough were left incensed by a decision by the council earlier this year to introduce per-minute billing, which some said could leave them struggling to survive.
The pay change, which was criticised by national body the UK Homecare Association, proved the final straw for some care companies already unhappy about Walsall’s rate of pay who decided to take on less work. The council then triggered a contract extension to tie providers in for another year, amid warnings some were ready to walk away from Walsall. New contracts are set to be discussed in April.
The council has defended the change to pay per minute, insisting it is in the "best interests of residents".
Companies were informed of the increase this week by the authority which said it had agreed the "uplift" following a review "in response to a request from providers".
The manager of one provider said the pay increase was a step in the right direction but had been offered on a condition companies did not turn down packages. The Express & Star revealed last month that providers declining packages had resulted in a backlog, which the council said was putting dozens of elderly and vulnerable people at "risk".
The care manager said: "We have to make sure we accept care packages and only decline them if we can't take them. We have re-started taking work because the carers requested it.
"It's a gesture. We will wait to hear in April if there is another uplift because then we can decide if it's sustainable."
A Walsall Council spokeswoman said: “Following discussion with providers the council has reviewed its position and has proposed to apply a part-year uplift, increasing the hourly rate in December from £14.33 to £14.88. Application of the in-year uplift is set against the requirement that providers will deliver care compliantly to the terms and conditions as set out in the contract and the council has offered to provide additional training to support providers in meeting this requirement.
“In addition to the increased hourly rate, our intention is to move to weekly payments - which providers have advised seeks to provide cash flow benefit - as well as provide additional training sessions on the call monitoring system and to work in partnership with providers to fund a large-scale recruitment campaign as providers have advised us that the recruitment of care workers is one of their greatest challenges.”
