Written question WQ87011
- Asked by
- Peter FoxConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Health and Social Services
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 6 days
Question
Will the Minister outline how much of the allocated £70 million for the real living wage for social care workers will come from the local government uplift of £227 million, and how much will come from the health and social care uplift of £165 million as per the draft budget?
Answer
Answered by Deputy Minister for Social Services
Welsh Government is committed to improving employment terms and conditions in the social care sector. We are aware of the urgent need of support to address pay, recruitment and retention issues, exacerbated by the extreme challenges presented during the Covid pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis, which is why in April this year we were proud to be able to provide £43m of funding, which provided a vital wage uplift to a group of key workers.
I am pleased to be able to maintain this commitment to social care workers with an estimated £70m in 2023-24 to pay the Real Living Wage uplift of £10.90 an hour, with workers feeling the benefit by June 2023. This will support recruitment and retention across the sector.
£15m has been allocated from the Health and Social Services budget; the remainder will come from the local government settlement.