London home care provider raises carer pay

Following Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s announcement of the new London Living Wage of £8.80/hour as part of Living Wage Week 2013, north London home care provider Penrose Care made this increase effective immediately. This new figure compares to the National Minimum Wage for persons 21 years or older of £6.31/hour.

Penrose Care became one of the UK's first Accredited Living Wage Employers in the home care sector in autumn 2012. Today, Penrose Care is one of four Accredited Living Wage Employers in London's home care sector out of around 925 agencies.

Penrose Care's managing director, Robert Stephenson-Padron said: "When many of our peers are paying less than even the National Minimum Wage, we at Penrose Care are proud to be one of a handful of home care providers in London paying the London Living Wage.

“A Living Wage for care workers means that those special individuals that have a vocation to care can pursue care as a profession - being able to live securely so that they in turn can help the elderly and disabled in our society feel secure."

Recent survey data from public service trade union Unison found that 81.1 per cent of independent sector home care workers were not being paid for travel time between client homes.

As well as paying the London Living Wage, Penrose Care pays its carers for travel time. Last month, the company became the first independent sector home care provider in England (out of nearly 7,000 agencies) to be compliant with Citizens UK's landmark Social Care Charter, an ethical pathway for all social care providers.

"It is clear that the widespread poverty wages paid by many of our peers is a primary driver behind the negative outcomes in care that have become so public in British media in recent times - with many care workers lacking basic skills and high staff turnover hurting quality of care," said Mr. Stephenson-Padron.

Penrose Care intends to continue working with the Living Wage Foundation and Citizens UK in promoting both the Living Wage and the Social Care Charter.