James Evans has asked for an assurance that money intended to help pay care workers in Wales the real living wage is being used for that purpose.
The Brecon and Radnorshire MS and Conservative health spokesman told the Senedd yesterday that the long-term future for social care requires a long-term workforce.
But he said concerns have been raised about the Government's funding approach for the real living wage for social care workers as funding is provided for the local government revenue support grant without specific ring-fenced funding.
Video from Senedd.tv
The Brecon and Radnorshire MS and Conservative health spokesman told the Senedd yesterday that the long-term future for social care requires a long-term workforce.
But he said concerns have been raised about the Government's funding approach for the real living wage for social care workers as funding is provided for the local government revenue support grant without specific ring-fenced funding.
Video from Senedd.tv
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00:00James Evans.
00:01James Evans AM.
00:02First Minister, the long-term future for social care requires a long-term workforce, and concerns
00:08have been raised regarding the Welsh Government's funding approach for the real living wage
00:12for social care workers, as funding is provided for the local government revenue support grant
00:18without specific ring-fenced funding.
00:22Organisations have expressed grave concerns about this method, noting significant funding
00:26shortfalls experienced by care providers across Wales in delivering the real living wage.
00:32They emphasise the necessity for clear, identifiable ring-fenced funding to ensure social care
00:38providers receive the necessary support that they need to deliver social care and pay the
00:42real living wage to their staff.
00:45So, given these concerns, First Minister, could you detail what work the Welsh Government
00:49is doing to ensure that the allocated funds for the real living wage are effectively reaching
00:54front-line social care providers, and they're not being reallocated across councils to deal
01:00with funding shortfalls that they're experiencing?
01:02Thanks very much, and I'm really pleased to hear that you are in support of paying the
01:07real living wage to our care workers in Wales, but you're quite right.
01:15What we do is we hand over money to local government through the RSG allocation, and
01:25it is not hypothecated, but we have made it clear to them that the moneyóthis is what,
01:31more or less, we expect for you to spendóso, that money has been effectively a soft hypothecation,
01:37and we would expect that to be spent in the areas where we have deemed that it should
01:43be spent.
01:44So, we are always having constructive discussions with our colleagues in local government, but
01:50that is a fundamental principle for us.
01:52If you don't pay the real living wage, then the difficulty of recruiting people in an
01:57area that is already stretched is going to simply cause you more problems in the long
02:01run.
02:02Paul Davies AM.
02:03What is the Welsh Government doing to support businesses in Preseli, Pembrokeshire?