Welsh Government to hand out £1,000 bonus to thousands of social care workers

• Video report by ITV Wales political correspondent Owain Phillips

Thousands of social care workers will receive a £1,000 net bonus later this year, the Welsh Government has announced.

The extra money will appear in people's pay packets in April and the Deputy Minister for social services, Julie Morgan, said £96m will be used to fund the bonuses.

Around 53,000 staff in Wales will be eligible for the additional payment.

However a social care leader is calling for the Welsh Government to ensure that everyone working in the sector, including cooks and cleaners, gets the £1,000 because of the vital role they have all played through the pandemic.

The additional payment is different to the £500 for social care staff in 2020, which was available after the first wave of the pandemic, and the £735 payment to health and social care staff to thank them in 2021.

Social care staff who are eligible for the real living wage, as well as some managers, are in line to receive the thank you cash.

The bonus, which comes alongside the introduction of the real living wage, will total £1,498 before tax and national insurance. Care workers on a basic rate of income tax can then expect to receive £1,000 after deductions.

Analysis by ITV Wales Political Correspondent Owain Phillips

The Welsh Government clearly want to trumpet this as good news and they'll hope this emphasis will help attract more workers into the sector.

However, it has opened a further debate regarding what's being done to help support staff, those working in kitchens and cleaners.

Some within the industry are already making such calls and it demonstrates the complexity and costs associated with supporting care services.

This policy will cost £96 million but stops short of a major overhaul of the sector - and with an ever ageing population those major questions will be ever more pressing. 

Julie Morgan MS said: "At a time when we are facing a cost-of-living crisis, this additional payment to care workers receiving the real living wage shows our commitment to supporting people and encouraging more people to consider a rewarding job in care.

"I’ve seen first-hand the difference social care workers make to people’s everyday lives and I know just how valued they are.

"We want to see more people take up permanent jobs in social care and start a rewarding career. We also hope those who are considering leaving social care, or who have already left, will stay."

The move has been welcomed by the chair of a group representing social care staff, however there are concerns not all staff will be eligible.

Mario Kreft, who heads up Care Forum Wales, is calling for assurance that the extra money will go to everyone in the sector. He said it "would be totally unfair" for some ancillary staff to miss out, when they too have played a vital role in keeping vulnerable people safe during the pandemic.

Mr Kreft said the bonus was a positive step in recruiting and retaining staff in the sector but there needs to be "clarity" to ensure no one is "overlooked".

He said: “We have been having weekly meetings with the Deputy Minister and we are grateful to her for her inclusive approach in involving Care Forum Wales in her deliberations.

“In relation to the £1,000, there is a question mark about those people who have slogged their guts out during the Covid nightmare, through all of the challenges, who may not be eligible.

“I am thinking of people who may have been dealing with infection control, catering and cleaning staff because they have all played an absolutely key role in keeping people safe.

“We really need to have clarity that these people are not going to be overlooked because there has been an astonishing commitment by the social care sector and social care workers in different settings come in all shapes and sizes.

“I hope there’s going to be discretion in that guidance for employers to be able to ensure those who have kept people safe and gone above and beyond during the pandemic are rewarded for those efforts.

“The key thing is that nobody gets overlooked because in Wales social care staff have made an astonishing contribution to the safety of vulnerable people.

“We need to make sure that the social care family benefits but I think that’s possible because I think the government understands the sector has made."

The Welsh Government said roles that could be eligible to receive the bonus included adult care home managers, adult care home workers, domiciliary care managers, domiciliary care workers, residential child care managers, residential child care workers and personal assistants.

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and social care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS also said the bonus was a good thing but failed to tackle the root problem - calling the payment a "quick fix".

He said: “This bonus is to be welcomed, but does not address the real issue that too many of our hard working carers have already left the profession for higher wages elsewhere.

"Until those working in caring are rewarded and recognised as they deserve and that they have the autonomy and funding to provide the high-quality care services they can be proud of, quick fix payments like this will have little more effect in the long term than putting a sticking plaster on a deep wound.”