Councils in the West Midlands must ensure funding to tackle workforce shortages in social care reaches staff pay packets, says UNISON. The union has written to 1,601 councillors in the region urging them to ensure that local care workers receive their share of millions of pounds of short-term funding pledged by the government.
Care staff have also emailed local politicians calling for support to get what they are owed. In December, ministers announced a £462.5m workforce retention and recruitment fund in response to the staffing crisis facing the sector.
The cash – for bonuses, overtime and bringing forward planned pay rises for care staff –can be accessed by local authorities until the end of March. However, UNISON says money from other government initiatives didn't always reach the pay packets of all the staff for whom it was intended.
The union cites cash from the adult social care infection control fund, which was supposed to cover wages for self-isolating care workers. The union published evidence last June showing some care workers simply weren't getting the cash.*
The UNISON letter warns this must not happen with the new funding and asks what steps councils are taking to ‘reward the local social care workforce’. It says care staff ‘deserve any opportunity available’ to help increase their pay and that it’s only with improved wages that ‘the staffing problems besetting the sector can start to be addressed’.
The letter continues: “UNISON has been pushing hard to get a boost in care worker pay, and ministers have finally agreed to act. This additional money won't fix low wages, but it is an opportunity for your council to invest in the staff who’ve supported local communities tirelessly throughout the pandemic.
“UNISON is keen for your help to ensure the funding gets to employees on the frontline.” Some authorities have already taken action to improve pay, says UNISON.
They include Shropshire Council which has agreed with Shropshire Partners in Care to allocate the £943,735 received from the fund to care staff through providers registered with the Care Quality Commission.
UNISON regional secretary Ravi Subramanian said: “This is all too little, too late, but it's still crucial the money gets to care workers. Local authorities have the power to make this happen if councillors step up and do the right thing.
“Billions more are needed to get the care sector out of the crisis it’s facing. Paying staff a proper wage is a top priority to attract recruits and stop the exodus of existing staff. All care workers should be on at least the real living wage.”
Findings from a UNISON survey published in 2021 show that a third of care staff isolating or off sick with Covid were not getting full sick pay. Care employers in England were meant to use the infection control fund to ensure full pay for staff, but some refused.
