Plaid Cymru Dwyfor Meirionnydd The Rt Hon. Liz Saville Roberts MP and Mabon ap Gwynfor MS

Raising the matter in PMQs, Mrs Saville Roberts highlighted the situation facing Porthmadog based Cariad Care Homes who now face paying an extra £95,795 in NI contributions, which equates to an additional £56 per resident, per week.

Cariad Care Homes is an established care provider with 25 years in the sector, managing two nursing homes in Gwynedd and providing care for up to 77 vulnerable people. They employ a team of 130 and have an occupancy rate of 98%.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:   

I know how much professional care work means to the Deputy Prime Minister. Cariad Care Homes in Porthmadog tell me they won’t be able to absorb the additional exorbitant costs imposed by her government’s Budget. They believe this poses a threat worse than covid to their business. Will she personally intervene therefore so that her government at least make care providers exempt from the rise in employer’s National Insurance contributions?

Liz Saville Roberts MP added:

Care Homes such as Cariad Care in Porthmadog provide a crucial service to the local community, looking after the most vulnerable in society. Their care homes in Porthmadog and Pentrefelin have an excellent reputation for nursing and palliative end of life care. But Labour’s new National Insurance hike put core services like these at risk. Many will now face impossible choices. The increase in employer NI contributions will have far reaching repercussions across both health and social care settings, creating a perfect storm in which providers have no choice but to cut back on services as they cannot afford to keep them running. I urge the Deputy Prime Minister to use her influence and draw upon her own personal experience to urge her Treasury colleagues to reconsider this policy.

Managing Director of Cariad Care Homes, Ceri Roberts said:

In real terms, we estimate the impact of NI changes is an additional £95,795. Real Living Wage increase is £124,703 therefore a total additional increase of £220,498 per annum which equates to £56 per resident, per week. This additional amount does not take into consideration any increases in indirect costs, such as utilities, food, insurance etc. 96% of our resident are funded by the local authority or the health board. We’ve had a recent legal case with the health board due to their insufficient low fees. I don’t see Cariad Care Homes being able to absorb these additional exorbitant costs. This will have a huge impact on our already stretched finances. I would imagine that this will also have an even greater impact on smaller care homes, with the potential of more home closures.