Around 100 adult social care providers are benefitting from additional support from the City of Wolverhampton Council to help them cope with pressures from increased energy costs and rising inflation.

It includes financial support already totalling £240,000 for registered care homes, extra care, home care and supported living providers – with more expected to receive financial support in the coming days.

A range of practical measures have also been put in place to further support the adult social care sector.

Councillor Linda Leach, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Adult Services, said: "Our adult social care providers have already experienced an incredibly tough couple of years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now they are having to deal with a potent mix of rising energy costs and inflation.

"The additional support we are now providing comes on top of the increase of up to 10% in the amount we pay providers we implemented earlier this year, and which has already helped providers to retain staff and deliver continuity of care to service users.

"This means we have put more than an extra £4 million into adult social care this financial year, bringing our total investment to nearly £80 million in 2022 to 2023.

"But it's not just financial support that we are giving to the sector. We are holding regular meetings with stakeholders across health and social care so that, together, we can share best practice, improve collaboration and help plan in advance so that we can mitigate issues before they occur.

"We are also looking to help recruitment within the sector, and have launched the Wolverhampton Care Association JobMatch programme to support care providers with recruitment and marketing activity.”

She added: "The city's social care sector has a vital role to play in supporting our most vulnerable residents, and we want to ensure it is as strong and vibrant as it can be. We also want to make it a more attractive sector for people to work in, particularly as demand for services continues to rise. We believe this package of measures will help meet both these ambitions."

The support is part of the Wolverhampton Cares initiative, launched by the council and key partners last year to help the local health and social care sector through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. To find out more visit Wolverhampton Cares.