During today’s (6 May) virtual plenary session, the Welsh Conservatives’ Shadow Minister for Social Care - Janet Finch-Saunders MS - asked the First Minister: 

Will you extend the £500 bonus to our selfless army of unpaid carers as the Director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales has suggested? 

The question follows the Member’s call for the Welsh Government to work with local authorities to better support unpaid carers. It is estimated that 79% of unpaid carers in Wales provide care for their loved ones, many picking up an additional 11 hours of unpaid care per week. 

The Member for Aberconwy also asked Mark Drakeford MS whether social care staff will be provided with a wage increase similar to that given to non-medical staff at Cardiff’s Dragon Heart Hospital. 

Following her contribution to the virtual plenary session, Janet said: 

“I am pleased that Welsh Ministers have listened to my call to reward our hardworking front-line social care staff. These people do an arduous and emotionally-taxing job that deserves to be rewarded.  

“The Welsh Government must now follow up this bonus commitment with more action, by extending support to ease the burden on our unpaid carers. 

“These unpaid champions work tirelessly, often on top of other employment, to lovingly care for their nearest and dearest. 

“I am also dismayed to have heard that several local authorities are yet to receive information about this payment. The Welsh Government needs to better cooperate with our hardworking local authorities to ensure that social care staff feel adequately supported. 

ENDS