Front-line workers in Walsall to be given more PPE to fight Covid-19

Walsall Council’s cabinet met yesterday and agreed to provide a further £500,000 for extra supplier relief for those working in adult social care.

Bosses were presented with a report which said the need for urgent supplies such as PPE was showing no signs of slowing up.

Council leader Mike Bird said it was the local authority’s duty to ensure residents, particularly elderly, and staff were kept safe during the pandemic.

In May, Walsall Council received £2.8 million from the Government’s £600 million Infection Control Fund, aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19.

On top of that, the authority approved an additional £200,000 spend as expenditure claims from care homes and workers kept coming in.

Since then, more than 40 providers have put in expense claims totalling around £400,000 – most of which has been covered through the Government and council funding.

This additional money will be used to continue meeting the approved claim costs in the coming months.

Councillor Bird told the meeting: “This is to provide the care market and providers with PPE and things of that nature.

“It is our duty to assist them as much as possible to ensure all of our elderly residents are kept in a safe environment.”

The report to cabinet said: “The council is not obliged to fund the additional Covid-19 related expenditure faced by providers.

“However, failure to do so could see an already limited local market stretched to the point where operation becomes financially unviable for some providers and they may not be in operation post-pandemic.”