Care pay increase welcomed but council 'must do better'

The local authority has been locked in a battle with its home care providers for months following a controversial change to per-minute billing.

Council bosses had stood firm in the face of fierce criticism from the care sector but budged for the first time last week when it agreed to increase its hourly rate from £14.33 to £14.88. The previous rate had been widely criticised and was thought to be among the lowest in the West Midlands.

One care manager who had taken on less work as a result of the change to pay per minute said the increase, which came following a crunch meeting with providers, was a step in the right direction.

After the council agreed to the rise, companies were told not to turn down packages.

The pay per minute policy drew scorn from the United Kingdom Homecare Association (UKHCA) and while acknowledging the pay increase was a positive step, the national body said the council "must do better".

Policy director Colin Angel said: "While any movement above the council’s current hourly rate of £14.33 is an improvement, they will still be seriously behind the minimum price that independent and voluntary sector home care providers need to run a sustainable service, which is currently £18.93 per hour.

“The price which providers will require from April 2020 will be higher, as the National Living Wage rises each financial year.

“The council must do much better than this in order to develop a stable home care market for local people.”

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.”