Peterborough awarded over £500,00 to retain and recruit adult social care staff

In November, the government announced a ring-fenced grant of £162.5 million to be given out to local authorities to spent on addressing local workforce capacity pressures, by helping to recruit as well as retain current staff by March 2021.

The funding, of which Peterborough has received £537,375, has been issued on a one-off basis and will be paid in instalments; 60 percent was received in November while the remaining 40 percent will be paid in January.

Among the list of stated uses for the funding are:

- To support providers to maintain the provision of safe care and bolstering capacity within providers to deliver more hours of care

- To support timely and safe discharge from hospital to where ongoing care and support is needed

- To Support providers to prevent admission to hospital

- To enable timely new care provision in the community

- To support and boost retention of staff within social care

The grant must only be used to address local workforce capacity issues across adult social care CQC Registered providers and will only apply to expenditure on recruitment and retention activity made between October 21, 2021 and March 21, 2022.

A Peterborough City Council report on how best to use the funding stated: “In line with guidance issued, Peterborough City Council will be allocating 100 percent of the grant funding to CQC Registered Care Home and Community Providers in contract with, and delivering services on behalf of, adult social care.

“The grant will be allocated to these providers based on staffing numbers reported through CQC. The expectation is that providers should determine the best use of funding for their own circumstances in line with the grant conditions set. Both Councils will expect to see proof of expenditure that this has been passed to employees via their PAYE systems with a focus on retention or incentivisation.

“In the event of an underspend of either grant, the Council will review the proportion of underspend in each allocation and reapportion across all grant recipients.

“It is anticipated that efficient distribution of this grant funding will support the sector in managing recruitment and retention challenges over the next six months enabling providers to continue to meet the needs of people requiring support in a timely and effective way.”

The final decision will be made by Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult Social Care, Health and Public Health, Councillor Irene Walsh.