Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins urges council rethink after care workers snubbed for £500 ‘thank you’ payment

Last month, it was announced that Derbyshire County Council had received £2.1 million of funding to offer retention payments to home care workers in the county. These payments were being made in an effort to stop more carers leaving the industry amid severe staffing shortages.

The money, provided by NHS Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group, is to be split between 3,900 workers in the private, voluntary and independent sectors. Staff employed directly by DCC, however, will miss out, with the council stating that their policies do not allow such payments to be made to their workforce.

Toby Perkins has responded with a letter to Cllr Barry Lewis, leader of Derbyshire County Council, in which he criticised the move. He said councils across the country have made similar payments to their own care staff, and that this decision would damage council-run care services in the county.

“I have recently been contacted by constituents who are employed by Derbyshire County Council as home care workers, and who are very angry that they will not be receiving the £500 retention payment that is being paid by DCC to care workers in the private sector.

“I understand that DCC are not providing your employees with the payment as your ‘pay policies do not allow retention payments to be made to its workforce.’ I do not accept this and other local authorities across England have used the funds to pay retention bonuses to both council employees and private sector staff.

“There is nothing to stop the council from adapting their policy to allow your staff to receive this payment. This feels like another attempt by your leadership to run down council-run care services.”

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Mr Perkins also said that care staff employed by Derbyshire County Council felt insulted after their dedicated work throughout the pandemic.

“Can you please tell me why you have decided to snub your own staff in this way, rather than alter your policy to allow your hard-working staff to get the same incentive that is being paid to private staff?

“The council’s home care staff have been working on the frontline of the pandemic, often doing extra hours to cover staff absences, and I know that they feel like this is a real slap in the face following their hard work and sacrifice.

“This will have a significant impact on staff morale and could see people leave the care sector and exacerbate the staffing crisis, precisely the opposite of what is needed right now.”