Announced yesterday (11 March 2020), Salford City Council will give more than 300 care employees working in the city a pay increase to at least £9 per hour from 1 October 2020; this ties in with Salford's commitment to work towards care workers receiving the full living wage.
In 2017, Salford City Council and Salford's Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) increased pay for these individuals to £8.30 per hour. In addition to the core pay rise to £9 across all care workers, the council and CCG have announced that they will work to implement an increase to £9.30 for those on supporting learning disability contracts by October 2020.
Paul Dennett, Salford city mayor, said: “This is an investment in people who do one of the most important jobs in our neighbourhoods and communities: caring for the elderly and vulnerable, whilst also making sure they can maintain their dignity and independence.
“The last pay rise was funded three years ago by a one off national government grant after local authorities drew attention to the crisis in adult social care. While local authorities face unprecedented demand for services the sector has been struggling to recruit and retain staff because of low pay.
“We do not have the luxury of that extra funding now, especially with significant ongoing financial uncertainty in local government and after having had £211 million cut from central government funding since 2010 with no let-up in demand for services. It is for these reasons that we cannot move straight to paying carers in our city the real living wage but I am determined to campaign, lobby and work towards achieving this as soon as we can."
Steve North, brand secretary at trade union Unison, said: "Our members are absolutely delighted to receive this news. We want to thank those people who supported the campaign.
"The success of this campaign shows care workers can have a strong voice. And we in Unison are determined to continue to help them to use that voice and deliver real dignity in social care. Salford Unison is also committed to supporting the council in campaigning central government for a fair funding settlement for Salford, especially after £211 million of cuts since 2010."
Dr Tom Rasker, chair at Salford CCG, added: “Social care workers play a critical role in looking after Salford’s most vulnerable people and making sure they are receiving the best care within the community. I’m delighted that they are set to be paid a higher and fairer wage for what can be a challenging and demanding job. We recognise that this isn’t the real living wage, but it is a step in the right direction as we continue to work on providing carers with a wage that is in line with real living costs."
