Janet Finch-Saunders AM – the Shadow Minister for Social Care – has broadly welcomed the announcement today (April 14) of a £40-million fund from the Welsh Government to support social care during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, but has caveats.

Mrs Finch-Saunders said:

“Of course we Welsh Conservatives welcome the announcement of this funding, which is aimed at helping meet the increased costs of basic PPE, food, staffing costs and ICT, which are being incurred by adult social services. Anything that helps keep our wonderful frontline social care workers safe and doing their fantastic work is to be applauded.

“However, this is not new money, but a small amount taken from the ‘fighting fund’ set up and announced previously by the Welsh Government, half of which is from UK Government funding allocated Wales to defeat this pandemic.

“As my colleague Paul Davies, the Leader of the Opposition, said yesterday about the £350m extra allocated to Wales by the UK Government – taking it to nearly £2 billion to defeat Coronavirus – we need to follow the money, see how, when, on whom, and where it is spent by the Welsh Labour administration.

“We are working with Members from other parties during this pandemic, but our job as the party of opposition is to continue to scrutinise what the Welsh Government does, and how it spends, and it’s more vital now than ever.”

Click here for Paul Davies' comments on the additional £350 million for Wales.

Click here for the statement by the Welsh Government.