Vaughan Gething MS, Minister for Health and Social Services and Julie Morgan MS, Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Social care plays a vital role in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities as well as our health service. It has been at the heart of our response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In April, we made £40m available to help adult social care providers meet the additional costs associated with the pandemic. Today we are announcing a further £22.7m.
The £40m was provided to local authorities to help the adult social care sector with the rising costs, including staffing, increased infection control, higher food prices and greater use of ICT to keep families in touch with their loved ones while they were not able to visit each other.
This funding has provided much needed support to the sector, but many providers are continuing to face financial pressures, particularly care homes, which are facing the additional challenge in relation to a loss of income caused by vacancies and a need to restrict new admissions in some cases to control the spread of the virus.
We have been working closely with the sector to put together a further package of support and are pleased to announce we are providing a further injection of £22.7m to local authorities to enable them to continue to assist adult social care providers with these on-going additional costs. This funding will be available immediately through to the end of September, when we will review the situation again.
This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. Should members wish us to make a further statement, or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns, we would be happy to do so.