Welsh care workers to receive driving lessons and electric cars

The Welsh government has announced a further £10 million to help newly recruited care workers pay for driving lessons and purchase electric fleet vehicles.

Being unable to drive or not having access to a vehicle is one of the main barriers to recruitment into the sector and can limit the number of hours domiciliary care workers are able to work.

The Deputy Minister for Social Services, Julie Morgan said: “I am very pleased we are providing an additional £10 million to local authorities to increase capacity in domiciliary care.

“Domiciliary care workers being unable to drive is cited as one of the main barriers to recruitment and can limit what services can be offered by providers. This funding will support the sector to meet these challenges and help people return home from hospital by increasing the provision of services.

“In addition, there are significant delays for driving test dates due to the pandemic. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has agreed to prioritise test dates for Welsh domiciliary care workers who are waiting to sit their driving tests."

'The rising price of fuel is yet another financial burden for home care workers'

Rising petrol prices are another deterrent with Chancellor Rishi Sunak recently announcing a cut to fuel duty by 5p a litre. However the move has been criticised for being ‘no way sufficient’ for home care workers struggling to pay higher fuel costs.

The RAC has said the 5p cut only took prices back to where they were just over a week ago and the cut would take £3.30 off the cost of filling a 55-litre family car.

The Homecare Association’s chief executive Dr Jane Townson has been urging the government to “demonstrate its commitment to home care workers”, to the old and disabled they care for and to the environment, by subsidising fleets of electric cars.

Dr Jane Townson said: "The rising price of fuel is yet another financial burden for home care workers, some of whom are facing real financial hardship and are reliant on grants from the Care Workers' Charity.

“Many employers in the state-funded part of the home care sector are struggling to increase staff wages and payments for mileage as the fee rates they receive from councils and the NHS are inadequate to cover costs.”

With demand for domiciliary support services in Wales remaining high, local authorities are having to find innovative ways to increase the capacity of their domiciliary support services and address longstanding difficulties in recruitment and retention.

The Welsh Government has already taken actions to build workforce capacity by introducing the Real Living Wage and undertaking a national recruitment campaign.