05/19/2015
Majority of council members of Pembrokeshire County Council voted to reject a proposal to enact a charter for the benefit of care workers.
The care worker charter proposed by Neyland county council Paul Miller would have adopted the Time to Care Charter that is being forwarded by public service union UNISON.
The proposed charter aims to improve the employment standards of carers, particularly in ensuring carers are paid at the right amount and for every minute they spend working, including time travelled from one client to another. Miller’s charter also has provisions to make sure carers are trained properly to provide quality service.
The proposal for the charter came after research has been conducted in Pembrokeshire which found that there were issues concerning the service being provided to clients in the area. Researchers said continuity of client-carer relationship was hard to maintain because clients do not see the same carers regularly and that there are even some concerns whether service is being provided with dignity all the time.
Since UNISON called for a care worker’s charter in 2013, a number of councils has signed up to adopt it, such as, Leeds City Council, Lancashire County Council, Camden Council and Renfrewshire Council in Scotland.
Pembrokeshire County Council is one of the many councils across UK that has not adopted UNISON’s charter.
Jamie Adams, the council leader, admitted in a May 16 Western Telegraph article that there is at present an issue regarding the care being provided in its jurisdiction. However, he said that further evaluation should be done before measures are adopted in order to ensure that the council can secure the best possible value of care.
Adams also cited cost as one reason for the rejection of the proposal, arguing that the charter’s enactment may increase wage levels and undermine the pay and grading review that the council has recently launched.
Expressing disappointment over the majority’s decision, Miller said:
“People access other services in Pembrokeshire, increasing demand on other services and health providers. It’s not positive and it’s not sustainable. There is evidence of workers not being paid National Minimum Wage or travel times. I’m sorry I’m not making it up to fit your utopian view of services.”
