At its meeting on Thursday, Sefton Council’s Cabinet approved arrange of measure to provide £2.5 million of additional funding for the Borough’s Care Homes.



The decision will mean an extra £1.8 million being paid to Care Home Providers from the Government’s Infection Prevention Control fund and £720,000 in placement payments dating back to the start of April. This is in addition to the £650,000 that has already been provided to help homes meet the added costs caused by the Coronavirus pandemic

Additionally, Sefton Council remains committed to paying Care Homes an additional £50 per placement per week until the Government provides specific details of how the remainder of the Infection Control Fund should be used. This equates to an ongoing weekly commitment of £170,000.

A report setting out the support that has been provided to Sefton’s Care Homes is being submitted to the Government this week. Councillors at the meeting heard that the Council had provided both financial and practical support, such as the supply of PPE to the Borough’s Care Homes and that the ongoing support is part of a continued joint commitment of support with the Sefton Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

Practical support has also entailed supplying Care Homes with smart homes to enable a daily call with all of them, at which managers and owners can highlight problems they are facing, to take place.

Cllr Paul Cummins, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care told the meeting he was proud that while at times it had been close, the Council had been able to help prevent any of the Borough’s Care Homes running out of PPE.

Cllr Cummins said he also felt for people who had lost loved ones in Care Homes and staff who had done so much to care for people.

He said: “I spoke to the Manager of a care Home in my ward who said her staff had been incredible and that she had also said she was grateful for Sefton Council’s support, which was nice to hear.”

The report agreed at the ’ Cabinet meeting also explained that Care Home providers are being reminded to notify Sefton Council if they believe they are facing severe financial that could mean failure. It also proposed that urgent work takes place to investigate the possibility of making emergency payments to providers experiencing severe financial hardship.

Sefton Council’s Adult Social Care team has written to the Borough’s Care Homes to provide an initial overview of the proposals agreed by Cabinet and to provide more details together with anticipated payment dates.