Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 25 October 2022.
My own local authority, Conwy County Borough Council, currently commissions around 790 beds supporting individuals in residential and/or nursing care. The gross spend within Conwy on residential and nursing services was £23 million in the last financial year, with only a potential uplift going forward of around 7 to 9 per cent—that's 7 to 9 per cent, not 79 per cent. Yet, in some other local authorities, where year on year they hold back in reserve, in some local authorities, a couple of hundred million in reserves, providers are indicating to the local authority that the combination of unpredicted high levels of inflation, increasing care levels, complex services and current workforce pressures are resulting in a financial shortfall relating to residential and nursing care—and I saw this first-hand when I visited a care home recently. First Minister, do you agree with me that the rates paid by any local authority to care homes should increase by at least inflation? And what steps are you taking to ensure that there's a fairer funding settlement and one that better reflects the true cost of social care need within our local authorities? Diolch.