Extra £40m allocated to support adult social care in Wales during pandemic

Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, has today announced an extra £40m to support adult social care services during the coronavirus pandemic.

The funding will help meet the increased costs of basic PPE, food, staffing costs and ICT, which are being incurred by adult social services.

It comes from the £1.1bn ‘fighting fund’ created by the Welsh Government to support public services to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Minister said: “Social care plays a vital role in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in Wales and the health service. This work is more important than ever. This additional funding will support the extra costs adult social care services are now facing.

“The Welsh Government has been working with local authorities and other partners to identify the additional resources needed to meet the extra demands on adult social care services. We will review this allocation and potentially make further money available if needed in the future.

“The social care workforce is on the front line of this huge effort to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and we are committed to supporting every single person do their job.

“Every one of us in Wales owes them a debt of gratitude. I want to personally thank our social care workforce for their fantastic efforts in protecting the public.”

The £40m will be allocated to local government through the new Covid-19 local government ‘hardship fund’. Local authorities will work with adult social care providers to draw down the extra funding based on the new costs that are identified.