COUNCIL tax payers in Denbighshire footed a £14m bill to fund residential and nursing care in the county in the last year alone.
Denbighshire’s cabinet this week voted in favour of increasing care home fees, or the council’s contribution, for people in residential and nursing care.
At a meeting this week at Ruthin’s County Hall HQ, councillors voted in favour of increasing care fees for EMI nursing by 7.2% whilst EMI residential care will increase by 6.6%.
Fees for standard residential care will increase by 3.8% and fees for standard nursing care will go up by 5.9%.
Cabinet also approved that any provider who does not accept the proposed fees will enter a ‘Care Cubed’ exercise to determine a fair price for their care.
The increase amounts to an extra £30.17, £58.13, £54.13, and £67.14 a week (per placement) across standard residential, standard nursing, EMI residential, and EMI nursing respectively.
According to the report, at the start of 2024/25, Denbighshire commissioned 382 placements across 85 older people’s residential and nursing care homes.
Across the four categories of care – standard residential, EMI residential, standard nursing, and EMI nursing – the projected cost for the year is an estimated £14,122,881, out of a total of £43.1m spent on care packages across adult social care.
Cabinet member for health and social care Cllr Elen Heaton introduced the fee increase before the vote.
“This is an area of significant spend. To illustrate this, these older people’s care home fees total around quarter of the total adult social care and homelessness budget,” she said.
“You’ll have read in the report that this year alone projected costs are estimated to be around £14.1m on around 380 placements, and again this reflects our commitment as a council to prioritise and continue to invest in our most vulnerable residents.
“These (proposals) have been shaped through engagement with our providers. They take into account the increase in the living wage, the changes to National Insurance contributions, including the threshold change, and of course inflation.
“This report comes following a consultation with our providers on the proposed uplifts that you’ve seen in the report. Letters were sent out in January to begin that consultation period.
“During that consultation period, we received responses from three of our providers. Given this is an area of a lot of spend, it’s essential that we approach this, as we do every year, responsibly and transparently, and a key development for us this year is our investment in Care Cube.”
She added: “So this (Care Cube) is a credible data-driven methodology designed to ensure that feeds are transparent, fair, and sustainable.
“Importantly, our investment in Care Cube will help us to strike that balance between fair and sustainable fees for our providers while also ensuring value for money for Denbighshire council tax payers. It will also align us with a regional commitment to a consistent and fair approach across North Wales.”
The cabinet unanimously approved the care fee increases.
