Pay boost for carers could lure workers from Amazon. Council votes on budget March 5, 2025, including tax increase and savings.
Colin Hughes uses a personal assistant and writes about disability on his website. The pay increase may attract more workers and pull them from places like Amazon. Brexit and low appreciation made hiring harder.
He says recruiting social care staff is tough and Brexit caused people to leave the City. Also, fewer British people want social care careers, so the extra pay will help him find workers.
The council will vote on the budget on March 5, 2025. Direct payment recipients get £20 per hour, with this money going to their assistants as earnings.
Direct payments are council funds for care, and the amount depends on need. This gives disabled people control, allowing them to hire their own assistants.
Recipients are employers and pay extra costs, like National Insurance. For 21 hours of care, assistants get £15.80 per hour, almost £2 more than the London Living Wage.
Those needing 16 hours can pay £15.72 per hour, and about 400 assistants will benefit. Nafsika Butler-Thalassis thinks higher pay improves care and offers more worker stability.
She believes good pay attracts good workers, who are also less likely to leave the job. The council saw this with past pay increases. Better care can prevent health decline, benefiting the council, too, as they raised agency carer pay last year by £1.50 per hour.
Colin has used a wheelchair since his teens and, for him, good care is essential. He used to work for the BBC. Poor care can be dangerous, and a carer’s confidence matters, as a person’s life is in their hands daily.
The council plans a council tax increase, which will result in £20m in savings. They promise £1.2m to help with social care costs, and about 460 disabled residents will keep more money after paying.
Westminster also plans other investments, including spending £140m on temporary housing and adding £1.2m to help the homeless. Cost-of-living support will get an extra £1m, and they will spend £2m to fight antisocial behavior. They want to double the number of CCTV cameras, and a new team will combat antisocial behavior while more officers will address noise complaints.
The council aims for £20m in savings, a figure that will rise to £30m by 2028. Council tax will rise by 4.99%, with two percent of that helping adult social care.
A Band D property pays £25.04 more per year, or about 48p per week. The council says their tax rate is low. The Greater London Authority fee is also up, gaining £18.98 per year on a Band D property, bringing those residents to a cost of £1,017.18 a year. Government funding rose by 6.8%, but they still expect a £41.2m gap, which spans through the next two years.
To save £20m, the council will do specific things. Adult and children’s services will save £2m, and prevention programs will contribute £500k. They will get NHS funding and charge homecare costs, which will save another £550k.
Environment and community efforts will save £8m, with parking charges providing most of this, coming out to £5.2m from parking. Housing and commercial partnerships will save £5.9m.
Councilors will then vote on this budget at a council meeting on March 5, 2025.