£2m coronavirus battle fund handed out to help care homes
More than £2 million grant funding is to be shared out between care homes and providers in a borough as the fight against the spread of Covid-19 continues.
Walsall Council has been allocated £2,288,564 from the Adult Social Care Infection Control fund ring-fenced Grant 2020 to help provide financial support during the crisis.
Authority leader Mike Bird made the ‘urgent decision’ – which he is permitted to do while the council is on lockdown – to distribute 75 per cent of the grant to care homes in the borough.
This means £1,715,930 will be shared out between all homes based on the number of beds at each facility.
The remaining £572,634 will be shared across providers working across the borough to support people in their homes.
A report said the cash will come in two instalments, one recently received by the council and next due to arrive at the end of July or start of August.
It said: “The primary purpose of the fund is to support Adult Social Care providers, including those with whom the local authority does not have a contract, to reduce the rate of Covid-19 transmission in and between care homes and support wider workforce resilience.
“This funding will be paid as a Section 31 grant, ring fenced exclusively for actions which support care homes and domiciliary care providers mainly to tackle the risk of Covid-19 infections and is in addition to funding already received.
“The Minister of Care’s expectation is that the grant will be fully spent by local authorities on infection control measures of the specified kinds within two months of the authority receiving the second instalment.
“This grant will allow a proactive approach to support vulnerable care home and domiciliary care clients by ensuring that the providers have the means to provide the best infection control measures to their residents/clients.”
