Government Fails to Live up to Its Commitment to Deliver Parity of Esteem - Funded Nursing Care

CARE England, the largest representative body for independent providers of adult Social Care, has today noted its disappointment that the health and Social Care sectors have not been treated with equal parity of esteem. Something that was encapsulated by the Government's recent decision to increase NHS Nurse pay by 3% whilst only offering a 2% for adult Social Care through the Funded Nursing Care 21/22 increase.

Care England believes, instead, that the 2 parts of the Nursing workforce should have a corresponding uplift. The need for such parity is especially acute given the potential for adult Social Care Nurses to be pulled into the NHS in the event that equality of funding is not established. This lack of parity does not pay sufficient dues to the fact that the adult Social Care sector's Nurses were, and continue to be, on the frontline in the Covid19 Pandemic. Whilst such behaviour by the Government merely entrenches perceptions concerning which sector it prioritises. At the same time, all of this is being played out the adult Social Care Nursing workforce is being subjected to mandatory vaccination, which may have unintended consequences such as increasing the attractiveness of the NHS over Social Care.

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says:- "Despite all the talk of parity and adult Social Care reform, this action by the Government merely confirms our fear that it still does not value both the NHS and adult Social Care in an equal manner. Such actions will not serve to assist the adult Social Care in meeting the 36% increase in its size necessary if the demand for the Social Care workforce grows proportionally to the projected number of people aged 65 and over."

Care England will continue to campaign to ensure that adult Social Care Nurses have the funding needed to be on a par with their fantastic NHS colleagues. When the FNC rate was announced earlier this year, Care England noted how the 2% Funded Nursing Care increase was itself incommensurate when considering the plethora of additional costs associated with the Covid19 Pandemic. Whilst this action will merely increase the 7% gap between the pay rates for adult Social Care Nurses and the rates available for Nurses in the NHS.

Martin Green continues:- "With a new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in position, we want to work with him to ensure that Social Care is once and for all understood and recognised."

Merseyside care provider slammed by MPs and Councillors for "callous" cuts to carers' working conditions

ALTERNATIVE Futures Group (AFG) a care provider which is commissioned by several Merseyside Councils has come under fire for proposing to cut the working conditions of care workers it employs. The care organisation has developed a proposal which it is calling:- "A Chance for Change," a process that AFG says will:- "change the enhanced terms and conditions for our support workers' as part of a 'cost reduction' programme." AFG wrote to MPs and Councillors across the North West in an attempt to soften the ground for their proposed cuts to care worker terms. But the care provider�s CEO Ian Pritchard was given short shrift by North West politicians, with 21 MPs and 63 Councillors signing an open letter which condemns the proposals.

The letter was signed by 10 Merseyside MPs including Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker; West Derby MP Ian Byrne; Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden; Bootle MP Peter Dowd; Wallasey MP Angela Eagle; Liverpool Garston MP Maria Eagle; Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood; Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson; Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Justin Madders and Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley.

In addition, the letter was signed by Councillors including:- Sefton Council Cabinet member for Children�s Social Care Mhairi Doyle MBE; Deputy Leader of Wirral Council and Chair of Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee Yvonne Nolan; St Helens Council's Cabinet Member for Integrated Care and Health Marlene Quinn and Leader of Wirral Council Janette Williamson. Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree said:- "The crisis in adult Social Care is 1 of the most serious and urgent issues facing our country. Too long underpaid and undervalued, the pandemic has shown that we need to invest in Social Care and support our care workers. For a so called care organisation to propose these callous cuts to conditions 16 months into a Pandemic is shocking. MPs and Councillors across the region have written to AFG and asked management to confirm that they will protect the terms and conditions of care workers. We stand with AFG workers who deserve pay rises, not threats of cuts to terms and conditions."

UNISON Regional Organiser Paddy Cleary said:- "AFG's treatment of its care workers is nothing short of shameful. It is clear that:- 'A Chance for Change' is nothing more than a chance to cut costs- with the burden being felt by frontline workers. All contractual terms are set to be reviewed, leaving open the prospect of AFG cutting their occupational sick pay scheme in the midst of a Pandemic. This would pose a public health risk, putting both care workers and service users at increased risk, as care workers are forced to choose between health and hardship. In a deft public relations move, AFG has attempted to distract from its:- 'cost reduction programme' with a vague expression of an:- 'ambition' to pay the Foundation Living Wage. But it is not difficult to see through this red herring. Wirral and Rochdale Councils recently funded an uplift to allow local care providers to pay the Living Wage yet in both cases AFG rejected these offers and refused to pay the Living Wage. It is clear to see that AFG's proposal is a thinly veiled attempt to further slash the terms and conditions of an already undervalued workforce, they must urgently reconsider."

Merseyrail cleaners strike and protest tomorrow in fight over pay

RMT Mitie Station and accommodation cleaners on the Merseyrail Contract are taking strike action and demonstrating in support of better pay, on Friday, 23 July 2021. The demonstration, involving the cleaners and their supporters, will be outside Mitie and Merseyrail�s Liverpool Headquarters at:- Rail House, Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool, L11JF, at 8am, on Friday, 23 July 2021.

The cleaners voted by a massive majority for action over the offer of a pitiful increase in their poverty pay rates which would have still left them far short of the Real Living Wage and the absolute minimum of �10 an hour, which RMT is campaigning for as recognition of these real heroes of the COVID Pandemic who have worked throughout.

Mitie have raked in a fortune on Merseyside since they landed the lucrative Merseyrail franchise in ‎2016 and were recently involved in a boardroom pay scandal after their Chief Executive trousered a bonus package set to amount to over �5 million.

The cleaners are also protesting the imposition of punitive rosters and attacks on holiday pay. RMT has pointed out that a fraction of the company�s profits and bonuses would cover the cost of the Real Living Wage and decent working conditions.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said:- "It is frankly disgusting that this wealthy company, which is rolling in cash when it comes to boardroom salaries and bonuses, is attempting to consign its front line cleaning staff to a lifetime of poverty pay. These are the same cleaners who disinfected and decontaminated Stations to keep services running at the height of Covid, at serious personal risk, and who are now facing a financial kicking. RMT would appeal to the people of Merseyside to join us in this fight for pay justice for your local rail cleaning staff."

Government Fails to Live up to Its Commitment to Deliver Parity of Esteem - Funded Nursing Care

Merseyside care provider slammed by MPs and Councillors for "callous" cuts to carers' working conditions

Merseyrail cleaners strike and protest tomorrow in fight over pay

Total UK cases Covid19 cases in and around Liverpool City Region