Shropshire care homes ask for more council money

Debbie Price said the rise in the living wage would take her company's wage bill to about £1m

Care homes are warning more could go out of business because of staffing shortage and rising wage bills.

Shropshire councillor Tony Parsons said there were up to 1,000 vacancies in the county and put forward a motion calling for more financial support.

Debbie Price, the chief executive of the Coverage Care group of care homes, said the rise in living wage from April would add extra pressure.

She said local authorities "don't pay the true cost of providing care".

Ms Price added: "I understand that they have financial constraints, but there are very few businesses that don't get paid the amount if costs to provide the service."

She runs 11 care homes and said filling vacancies had always been a problem.

They have also seen a 19% staff turnover rate.

Mr Parsons said: "Care providers are finding it very difficult to recruit and retain staff because of the low rates of pay that social workers obtain."

The rise in the living wage is set to push up basic pay from £10.42 an hour to £11.44 and Ms Price said it would push her wage bill up to about £1m.

Tony Parsons will have his motion to increase financial support heard on Thursday

Mr Parsons, a member of the Labour opposition on the Conservative-run Shropshire Council, said care homes "are not receiving the amount of cash that they need from Shropshire council to pay for those service and cover their costs".

The council gave extra financial support to care homes in 2023, with the help of additional government funding, and Mr Parsons wanted that to be repeated.

But Ms Price warned: "We are seeing providers closing their doors, we are going to see more providers closing their doors, we are going to see more providers who cannot afford to do business with the local authority."