Concerns raised about lack of funds to pay Real Living Wage to social care workers

Sioned Williams MS has been contacted by a number of not-for-profit providers of social care in her region of South Wales West who have expressed concerns that funding is not sufficient to meet increased costs of delivering high quality social care services, including paying the Real Living Wage, which the Welsh Government say they have implemented

Dimensions Cymru is one such not-for-profit provider, supporting 112 adults with learning disabilities and autistic people in supported living homes across Wales. They told Ms Williams that funding shortfalls translate into increasing difficulty in maintaining staffing levels, growing rota pressure, reduced service resilience, and uncertainty for skilled front-line colleagues.

Sioned Williams raised these concerns with the First Minister, who claimed that additional funding “has gone to local authorities”, but confirmed that this had not been ringfenced to pay social care workers the Real Living Wage.

Sioned Williams MS, said:

“Some of our most vulnerable citizens are supported by social care workers. But this crucial work is under threat due to lack of funding available to enable organisations to meet rising costs, pay the Real Living Wage, and cover increases to National Insurance contributions.”

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