Council hits back at care firm’s budget cuts claim

CAERPHILLY council has defended itself against suggestions that cuts to homecare budgets were endangering the future of independent care firms.

Karen James, who runs a domiciliary care agency at Blackwood in Caerphilly borough, said cutbacks were putting firms in a position where they were finding it difficult to pay the Living Wage.

She said her firm had a “framework” agreement with the council that enabled it to be offered work of up to 450 hours per week. It was currently doing around 300.

Ms James said in 2008 the council was paying her agency £15.30 an hour for care workers, plus time and a half at weekends, as well as mileage.

Now the payment is a straight £14.84 per hour for client contact.

Responding to Ms James’ comments, Coun Carl Cuss, the authority’s cabinet member for social services and wellbeing, said: “The agency has taken very few new packages on over the past 12 months, despite our brokers contacting them on several occasions.

“The agency submitted their tender application in 2011 for a reduced hourly rate and, with percentage uplifts since, this figure is now £14.84 an hour.

“There have been no reductions in spend on domiciliary care in Caerphilly. Indeed, since 2011 there has been an increase to the provision of domiciliary care in the community of 2,000 hours a week. Caerphilly council uplifted all provider fees by 1.5% in April 2017 and supplemented this with a further 1.6% increase from a Welsh Government grant, giving a total uplift of 3.1% to all providers.”