Future of learning disability care ‘hangs in the balance’

A leading provider of care for those with learning disabilities says it might have to cut some services if a row over back pay for staff is not settled soon.

Mencap says it might have to end its involvement in running more than 200 residential care homes and services affecting over 2,000 people with serious learning disabilities, meaning the services would have to be taken over by local authorities.

Care workers who stay overnight at residential facilities used to be paid a flat fee, but HM Revenue and Customs said last year they should be paid at least the minimum wage every hour they were on duty.

Enforcement action is due from October with employers obliged to pay six years of back pay.

Mencap and other charities say the total bill is likely to be around £400 million, and call on the government to pick this up. It is now paying its care workers the minimum wage for each hour of an overnight shift but says the government must cover any back pay.

Mencap says its back pay liability is £20 million. If the money has to be found for pay over the previous sox years it would disrupt the charity for a decade.

Smaller care-providers say they might have to shut down completely.

Derek Lewis, Mencap chairman, said: “Learning disability care in the UK hangs in the balance - if government fails to fund or offers only partial funding, Mencap could be forced to take action to hand back services that do not cover costs."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “As the public would rightly expect, we are working closely with representatives of the social care sector to see how it might be possible to minimise any impact on provision of social care as a result of historic underpayment of the national minimum wage.

"We have kept campaigners and charities up-to-date and hope to provide further clarity in the coming weeks."