Care workers in Hertfordshire could get a pay rise as county council draws up budget plans

County council officials have drawn-up plans to increase the wages of Hertfordshire’s lowest-paid care workers, as part of £18.5million budget proposals.

The proposals acknowledge the vital role of care workers in looking after older and vulnerable residents across the county – in care homes or in their own homes.

And they recognise the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, as well as the heightened demand for homecare.

If approved, next month (February), it will mean minimum care worker wages across the county will increase to £10.30 an hour – in excess of both the Real Living Wage (£9.90) and the National Living Wage (£9.50).

Meanwhile, homecare rates would increase from £13.64 an hour to £13.83.

The increases will represent an £18.5million investment in adult social care by the county council – and it will be funded from a two per cent increase in Council Tax.

It comes just months after a £13m injection of funds from the government led to the launch of retention bonuses for care staff, of up to £600.

Leader of the county council Cllr Richard Roberts says the plans to invest in care workers are a reflection of their vital role and recruitment difficulties.

He acknowledges that for the past two years care workers have been at the forefront of the Covid-19 pandemic – looking after the most vulnerable, dealing with severe illness and loss.

And he says that without their commitment the system would not have been able to cope.

With an increasingly ageing population, the demand for care workers in Hertfordshire is growing – with a 15 per cent increase in homecare compared to last year.

But in recent months, he says, there have been signs that the number of care workers in the county is starting to decline.

And he says the investment in care worker salaries – whether employed by the council or independent providers – will improve recruitment and retention.

The increase in care worker salaries is being funded by a two per cent increase in council tax – ring-fenced for adult social care.

That’s possible because last year the county council opted NOT to charge an additional three per cent that was permitted for adult social care.

But instead, they restricted the 2021/22 increase to two per cent – in order to collect the remaining one per cent in 2022/3.

Now councils have been granted the additional option to charge a further one per cent this year (2022/3) – resulting in a two per cent increase in the latest proposals.