Latest news with #CFW
Rhyl Journal
6 days ago
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Families angry over £7k a year cross-border care funding gap
Relatives spoke out after learning Denbighshire County Council pays £7,000 a year less per person towards providing care in a care home than their counterparts a short hop across the water in Conwy. One elderly couple caught up in the postcode lottery of funding are Leslie and Megan Smallwood. Leslie, 90, a retired quantity surveyor, and Megan, 86, a former maths teacher, live at The Old Deanery Care Home in St Asaph. They moved there in February last year from their family home at Caerwys in Flintshire, with that property now up for sale. Their daughter Yvonne Harding, a community nurse who lives in Heswall on the Wirral, said: 'Having this difference in fees from one council to another is fundamentally unfair. MORE NEWS: 'It seems to me Conwy are valuing the care sector, and I applaud that. 'We can't fault the home in its care, but it's about meeting the true cost of that care.' Rosemary Holland's brother Andrew Truelove, 61, is a resident at St David's Residential Home in Rhyl. Her father John Truelove had been a resident at the home until his death in September last year. Rosemary, who lives in Conwy, used to work in the care sector and said she has huge concerns about the financial challenges the industry was facing. She urged Denbighshire County Council to at least match the fees paid by Conwy County Borough Council. She said that would ensure all care home residents received an equal level of care – and would stop staff leaving homes in Denbighshire for better pay at care homes across the river in Conwy. Rosemary said: 'I just feel that Denbighshire needs to sort themselves out and pay the extra. 'They need to, because what Denbighshire is doing is affecting the residents. 'I have real concerns about the way social services in Denbighshire is working with residents, because it feels like they are not working for the residents, they are working to try to keep costs down.' The span of the Grade II listed Foryd Bridge can mean a huge difference in funding for care homes on opposite banks of the mouth of the River Clwyd. Care Forum Wales also hit out describing the funding gap as a 'shameful disparity is grossly unjust because it discriminates against older vulnerable people.' Thea Brain, North Wales Policy Advisor for CFW, said: 'This is about the entitlement of the individual. Why is someone who lives in Conwy worth more than someone who lives in Denbighshire? 'When you press this issue with the people at Denbighshire County Council they give very vague answers pointing to the differences in settlement for each local authority but that doesn't account for these huge differences in the figures. 'When you look into this you are left with the unacceptable conclusion that this is just a matter of political priority.' CFW Chair Mario Kreft said: 'It's astonishing that a Labour-controlled council like Denbighshire is ignoring Welsh Labour Government advice and is promoting such inequality in Wales. 'Those making these decisions should consider positions.' Denbighshire County Council funds about 382 placements across 85 care homes. The total projected cost for older people's residential and nursing care during 2025/26 is £15.2 million. A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: "In setting its 2025/2026 care fees, Denbighshire County Council consulted with care providers across the county and took into consideration the main concerns raised, which were the increase in Real Living Wage and the impact of the changes to National Insurance. Each Local Authority has a different funding settlement and therefore has to strike a very delicate balance of navigating challenging financial constraints and ensuring that we are maintaining a sustainable future for the care sector in Denbighshire. "Denbighshire currently funds approximately 382 placements across 85 care homes. The total projected cost for older people's residential and nursing care during 2025/26 is £15.2 million. "With social care making up nearly a third of the average Council Tax bill in Denbighshire, it is vital that we take a fair and sustainable approach to funding care within Denbighshire."
Rhyl Journal
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
Ban on overseas care workers will close North Wales homes
That's the warning from sector champions Care Forum Wales (CFW) which says the plan to end the recruitment of care staff from overseas will have a devastating impact on care homes and domiciliary care companies - with catastrophic consequences for the NHS. The announcement by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper came at a time when the sector was already reeling from increases in National Insurance contributions and wage rises, which amount to a 37 per cent hike in costs. CFW raised the issue as a matter of urgency at a meeting a meeting of the Five Nations group, which represents social care providers in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire, where the condemnation was unanimous. Both organisations are writing to Prime Minister Kier Starmer and the Home Secretary urging them to reverse the overseas recruitment ban for social care. Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of CFW, said: 'It really is a half-baked, ill-thought through idea that's ignored commonsense for the sake of short-term political expediency. 'Calling these social care heroes low skilled is an affront. It's shocking because we're talking about some very special people who are highly skilled at caring. 'To treat them with such disdain as the Home Secretary has done is an absolute disgrace. We live in ageist society where older, vulnerable people are not valued. 'As a result, these social care workers are at the wrong end of the salary scale because of the model that local authorities and health boards apply to commissioning publicly funded social care services. 'It's particularly damaging here in Wales because most people who need social care – whether it's in a care home or in their own homes – are publicly funded. 'If you lose 10 per cent of your workforce it's going to cause major issue because you need so many people." Mario Kreft MBE (Image: Mike Dean (Eye Imagery)) The UK Government has said care workers from overseas have made a "huge contribution" to social care in the UK, but too many have been subject to "shameful levels of abuse and exploitation". A statement released by the government said: "Workers seeking to support the UK's care sector arrived to find themselves saddled with debt, treated unfairly, or in extreme cases discover the jobs they were promised did not exist. "In March, the Home Office revealed over 470 care providers had had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended since 2022. Under plans to be outlined on Monday (May 12), the government will go further and put an end to any more overseas recruitment. "The crackdown on rogue care providers has seen around 40,000 workers displaced, many of whom are ready to rejoin the workforce. They will be given the opportunity to do the jobs they were promised, while long-term plans are drawn up to train homegrown talent into the care sector. " It added: International workers who are already sponsored to work legally in the sector will be able to continue to extend their stay, change sponsors and apply to settle, including those who need to switch employers following a sponsor licence revocation. "This government is committed to tackling these issues and has committed to establishing fair pay agreements which will empower worker, employer and other sector representatives to negotiate improvements in the terms of employment. This builds on the announcement in January of the expansion of the Care Workforce Pathway which will support the adult social care sector to professionalise the workforce. "Together, these measures will move the UK away from a dependence on overseas workers to fulfil our care needs." However, Mr Kreft said it will "inevitably lead" to care homes closing and domiciliary care companies "going to the wall". 'If you have problems in terms of quality because you haven't enough staff, you'll get closed down anyway by the regulator." he said. 'At the very least, domiciliary care and care homes will have to reduce services which will cause a backlog into the NHS. 'It is so counterintuitive. At a time when you're hitting businesses with a 37 per cent increase in National Insurance to raise £20 billion for the NHS, the UK Government is harming the social care sector that keeps the NHS going. They are shooting themselves in the foot. It defies logic. 'All of the work we have done over the past 20 to 30 years to professionalise the sector, working in partnership with the Welsh Government and Social Care Wales, they have put a match to it overnight. 'If we were able to recruit sufficient staff locally we would. We certainly wouldn't go to the extra expense of recruiting international workers. It can cost £10,000 per person." Mr Kreft said the policy is "politically driven", describing it as "knee-jerk politics of the worst kind" in an effort to "confront a right-wing agenda".
North Wales Chronicle
23-05-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Ban on overseas care workers will close North Wales homes
That's the warning from sector champions Care Forum Wales (CFW) which says the plan to end the recruitment of care staff from overseas will have a devastating impact on care homes and domiciliary care companies - with catastrophic consequences for the NHS. The announcement by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper came at a time when the sector was already reeling from increases in National Insurance contributions and wage rises, which amount to a 37 per cent hike in costs. CFW raised the issue as a matter of urgency at a meeting a meeting of the Five Nations group, which represents social care providers in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire, where the condemnation was unanimous. Both organisations are writing to Prime Minister Kier Starmer and the Home Secretary urging them to reverse the overseas recruitment ban for social care. Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of CFW, said: 'It really is a half-baked, ill-thought through idea that's ignored commonsense for the sake of short-term political expediency. 'Calling these social care heroes low skilled is an affront. It's shocking because we're talking about some very special people who are highly skilled at caring. 'To treat them with such disdain as the Home Secretary has done is an absolute disgrace. We live in ageist society where older, vulnerable people are not valued. 'As a result, these social care workers are at the wrong end of the salary scale because of the model that local authorities and health boards apply to commissioning publicly funded social care services. 'It's particularly damaging here in Wales because most people who need social care – whether it's in a care home or in their own homes – are publicly funded. 'If you lose 10 per cent of your workforce it's going to cause major issue because you need so many people." Mario Kreft MBE (Image: Mike Dean (Eye Imagery)) The UK Government has said care workers from overseas have made a "huge contribution" to social care in the UK, but too many have been subject to "shameful levels of abuse and exploitation". A statement released by the government said: "Workers seeking to support the UK's care sector arrived to find themselves saddled with debt, treated unfairly, or in extreme cases discover the jobs they were promised did not exist. "In March, the Home Office revealed over 470 care providers had had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended since 2022. Under plans to be outlined on Monday (May 12), the government will go further and put an end to any more overseas recruitment. "The crackdown on rogue care providers has seen around 40,000 workers displaced, many of whom are ready to rejoin the workforce. They will be given the opportunity to do the jobs they were promised, while long-term plans are drawn up to train homegrown talent into the care sector. " It added: International workers who are already sponsored to work legally in the sector will be able to continue to extend their stay, change sponsors and apply to settle, including those who need to switch employers following a sponsor licence revocation. "This government is committed to tackling these issues and has committed to establishing fair pay agreements which will empower worker, employer and other sector representatives to negotiate improvements in the terms of employment. This builds on the announcement in January of the expansion of the Care Workforce Pathway which will support the adult social care sector to professionalise the workforce. "Together, these measures will move the UK away from a dependence on overseas workers to fulfil our care needs." However, Mr Kreft said it will "inevitably lead" to care homes closing and domiciliary care companies "going to the wall". 'If you have problems in terms of quality because you haven't enough staff, you'll get closed down anyway by the regulator." he said. 'At the very least, domiciliary care and care homes will have to reduce services which will cause a backlog into the NHS. 'It is so counterintuitive. At a time when you're hitting businesses with a 37 per cent increase in National Insurance to raise £20 billion for the NHS, the UK Government is harming the social care sector that keeps the NHS going. They are shooting themselves in the foot. It defies logic. 'All of the work we have done over the past 20 to 30 years to professionalise the sector, working in partnership with the Welsh Government and Social Care Wales, they have put a match to it overnight. 'If we were able to recruit sufficient staff locally we would. We certainly wouldn't go to the extra expense of recruiting international workers. It can cost £10,000 per person." Mr Kreft said the policy is "politically driven", describing it as "knee-jerk politics of the worst kind" in an effort to "confront a right-wing agenda".
Pembrokeshire Herald
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
MP visits working group supporting Oriel y Parc gallery
CARE HOMES will close and lives will be put at risk in Wales as a result of the 'half-baked' immigration crackdown on social care workers. That's the warning from sector champions Care Forum Wales (CFW) who say the plan to end the recruitment of care staff from overseas will have a devastating impact on care homes and domiciliary care companies – with catastrophic consequences for the NHS. The announcement by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper came at a time when the sector was already reeling from increases in National Insurance contributions and wage rises, which amount to a 37 per cent hike in costs. CFW raised the issue as a matter of urgency at a meeting a meeting of the Five Nations group, which represents social care providers in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire, where the condemnation was unanimous. Both organisations are writing to Prime Minister Kier Starmer and the Home Secretary urging them to reverse the overseas recruitment ban for social care. Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of CFW, said: 'It really is a half-baked, ill-thought through idea that's ignored commonsense for the sake of short-term political expediency. 'Calling these social care heroes low skilled is an affront. It's shocking because we're talking about some very special people who are highly skilled at caring. 'To treat them with such disdain as the Home Secretary has done is an absolute disgrace. 'We live in ageist society where older, vulnerable people are not valued. 'As a result, these social care workers are at the wrong end of the salary scale because of the model that local authorities and health boards apply to commissioning publicly funded social care services. 'It's particularly damaging here in Wales because most people who need social care – whether it's in a care home or in their own homes – are publicly funded. 'If you lose 10 per cent of your workforce it's going to cause major issue because you need so many people. 'Most council jobs are 9 'til 5 but social care doesn't work like that – it's 24/7, 365 days a year. 'This will inevitably lead to care homes closing and domiciliary care companies going to the wall. 'If you have problems in terms of quality because you haven't enough staff, you'll get closed down anyway by the regulator. 'At the very least, domiciliary care and care homes will have to reduce services which will cause a backlog into the NHS. 'It is so counterintuitive. At a time when you're hitting businesses with a 37 per cent increase in National Insurance to raise £20 billion for the NHS, the UK Government is harming the social care sector that keeps the NHS going. They are shooting themselves in the foot. It defies logic. 'All of the work we have done over the past 20 to 30 years to professionalise the sector, working in partnership with the Welsh Government and Social Care Wales, they have put a match to it overnight. 'If we were able to recruit sufficient staff locally we would. We certainly wouldn't go to the extra expense of recruiting international workers. It can cost £10,000 per person. 'All of this is politically driven. It's certainly not driven by reality. This is knee-jerk politics of the worst kind in an effort to confront a right-wing agenda. 'Things are bad enough now but even more people won't be able to get into hospital when they need to and down the line it's something that could cost lives.' CFW treasurer Sanjiv Joshi was equally shocked and said: 'International recruitment of care workers has been a lifeline for our sector and the NHS as well. 'As we've realised since the pandemic, the NHS and the social care sector are totally intertwined and the backbone of both these very vital services are the care workers and we have a very small pool to recruit from in Wales. 'It is absolutely essential that we are able to supplement our domestic workforce with international recruitment. 'It's ironic that the country has just made huge financial sacrifices with higher taxation to try and improve the NHS and the social care offering and this is going to do the opposite. 'The Government's claim that not enough is being done to recruit workers from this country is just a false narrative. 'International recruitment has been going on in the social care sector and the NHS for the last 25 to 30 years . 'What happened was that the rules for non-EU recruitment were tightened because we had an EU workforce prior to Brexit. 'The rules were subsequently relaxed because as a result of Brexit and the pandemic we lost a large pool of our workforce. 'Throughout recruitment has always focused on the domestic workforce but our working population is decreasing relative to the growing demands of our ageing population. 'This is making a nonsense of the current rules. If we want to recruit somebody from overseas, we already have to demonstrate that we have tried our best and exhausted the domestic pool of local people and in-country overseas staff. 'We only recruit overseas staff when we have to. It's a lot more expensive to hire people from overseas so we only recruit internationally when there is no other option. 'The language in calling them unskilled is disgraceful and an insult to our existing workforce when we have been working so hard to professionalise the sector and to raise the esteem of our fantastic staff. 'This unwelcoming approach is going to make our current overseas staff feel incredibly uncomfortable. 'Without international recruitment, it's going to be impossible to plug the gaps today and going forward the situation is going to get worse. 'Recruiting international workers for the social care sector and the NHS are going to be essential if we are going to deliver these vital services. 'We always try and recruit locally first, then we look at the overseas pool of people who are already here and only then will we look to recruit from overseas.'
Pembrokeshire Herald
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Immigration ban ‘will put lives at risk and lead to care company closures in Wales'
CARE HOMES will close and lives will be put at risk in Wales as a result of the 'half-baked' immigration crackdown on social care workers. That's the warning from sector champions Care Forum Wales (CFW) who say the plan to end the recruitment of care staff from overseas will have a devastating impact on care homes and domiciliary care companies – with catastrophic consequences for the NHS. The announcement by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper came at a time when the sector was already reeling from increases in National Insurance contributions and wage rises, which amount to a 37 per cent hike in costs. CFW raised the issue as a matter of urgency at a meeting a meeting of the Five Nations group, which represents social care providers in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire, where the condemnation was unanimous. Both organisations are writing to Prime Minister Kier Starmer and the Home Secretary urging them to reverse the overseas recruitment ban for social care. Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of CFW, said: 'It really is a half-baked, ill-thought through idea that's ignored commonsense for the sake of short-term political expediency. 'Calling these social care heroes low skilled is an affront. It's shocking because we're talking about some very special people who are highly skilled at caring. 'To treat them with such disdain as the Home Secretary has done is an absolute disgrace. 'We live in ageist society where older, vulnerable people are not valued. 'As a result, these social care workers are at the wrong end of the salary scale because of the model that local authorities and health boards apply to commissioning publicly funded social care services. 'It's particularly damaging here in Wales because most people who need social care – whether it's in a care home or in their own homes – are publicly funded. 'If you lose 10 per cent of your workforce it's going to cause major issue because you need so many people. 'Most council jobs are 9 'til 5 but social care doesn't work like that – it's 24/7, 365 days a year. 'This will inevitably lead to care homes closing and domiciliary care companies going to the wall. 'If you have problems in terms of quality because you haven't enough staff, you'll get closed down anyway by the regulator. 'At the very least, domiciliary care and care homes will have to reduce services which will cause a backlog into the NHS. 'It is so counterintuitive. At a time when you're hitting businesses with a 37 per cent increase in National Insurance to raise £20 billion for the NHS, the UK Government is harming the social care sector that keeps the NHS going. They are shooting themselves in the foot. It defies logic. 'All of the work we have done over the past 20 to 30 years to professionalise the sector, working in partnership with the Welsh Government and Social Care Wales, they have put a match to it overnight. 'If we were able to recruit sufficient staff locally we would. We certainly wouldn't go to the extra expense of recruiting international workers. It can cost £10,000 per person. 'All of this is politically driven. It's certainly not driven by reality. This is knee-jerk politics of the worst kind in an effort to confront a right-wing agenda. 'Things are bad enough now but even more people won't be able to get into hospital when they need to and down the line it's something that could cost lives.' CFW treasurer Sanjiv Joshi was equally shocked and said: 'International recruitment of care workers has been a lifeline for our sector and the NHS as well. 'As we've realised since the pandemic, the NHS and the social care sector are totally intertwined and the backbone of both these very vital services are the care workers and we have a very small pool to recruit from in Wales. 'It is absolutely essential that we are able to supplement our domestic workforce with international recruitment. 'It's ironic that the country has just made huge financial sacrifices with higher taxation to try and improve the NHS and the social care offering and this is going to do the opposite. 'The Government's claim that not enough is being done to recruit workers from this country is just a false narrative. 'International recruitment has been going on in the social care sector and the NHS for the last 25 to 30 years . 'What happened was that the rules for non-EU recruitment were tightened because we had an EU workforce prior to Brexit. 'The rules were subsequently relaxed because as a result of Brexit and the pandemic we lost a large pool of our workforce. 'Throughout recruitment has always focused on the domestic workforce but our working population is decreasing relative to the growing demands of our ageing population. 'This is making a nonsense of the current rules. If we want to recruit somebody from overseas, we already have to demonstrate that we have tried our best and exhausted the domestic pool of local people and in-country overseas staff. 'We only recruit overseas staff when we have to. It's a lot more expensive to hire people from overseas so we only recruit internationally when there is no other option. 'The language in calling them unskilled is disgraceful and an insult to our existing workforce when we have been working so hard to professionalise the sector and to raise the esteem of our fantastic staff. 'This unwelcoming approach is going to make our current overseas staff feel incredibly uncomfortable. 'Without international recruitment, it's going to be impossible to plug the gaps today and going forward the situation is going to get worse. 'Recruiting international workers for the social care sector and the NHS are going to be essential if we are going to deliver these vital services. 'We always try and recruit locally first, then we look at the overseas pool of people who are already here and only then will we look to recruit from overseas.'
