Carers to get £500 gift regardless of work hours

FRONTLINE care home workers will get £500 regardless of how many hours they work.

When questioned by WalesOnline yesterday First Minister Mark Drakeford made some clarifications after many were confused by the Welsh Government’s original announcement.

He said: “Our £500 will be the same whether you are part-time or full-time and we have gone with the flat rate because that is the most progressive thing you can do.”

He added that this will also apply to people on zero-hours contracts, and said they had offered a flat rate to all because it would “mean more” to people who work less. Mr Drakeford added: “The less you earn the more £500 will mean to you, and we took a decision we will provide it no matter how many hours you are working.”

Another area of confusion was whether it would apply to all care home staff such as cooks or cleaners. WalesOnline had sought clarification about this from the Welsh Government previously and the First Minister said it would not.

He said: “The £500 applies to anybody providing direct personal care. You have to have a definition and that is the definition we will use.

“We will be publishing more information to guide local authorities and care home employers in interpreting that.”

The scheme applies to 64,000 people in Wales and was offered as a way of thanking care workers for the risks and sacrifices they had made through the coronavirus crisis.

Speaking previously, the First Minister said: “Tens of thousands of people work in social care in Wales, looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and are doing so with great dedication in often challenging circumstances.

“They are undertaking tasks which involve a high level of intimate personal care, often accepting a greater degree of risk and responsibility. Many of our social care workers are juggling their own personal caring responsibilities with their professional ones.

“I want our social care workforce to know their hard work is both appreciated and recognised. This payment is designed to provide some further recognition of the value we attach to everything they are doing – it recognises this group of people are providing the invisible scaffolding of services which support both our NHS and our wider society.”

■ Coronavirus around world – pages 8&9 the