Community Integrated Care take part in #SolveSleepIns Action Day

On Wednesday, our Chief Executive, Mark Adams, went to the House of Commons, as part of the #SolveSleepIns Alliance Action Day. At the event Mark met with over 30 MPs to highlight the desperate Government funding needed to support and fund the sleep-in back pay crisis. The day was organised by #SolveSleepIns Alliance – who represent half of all organisations providing overnight support to people who need it – as part of an ongoing sector-wide campaign.

Mark travelled to the capital with Daniel Juniper – a person supported by Community Integrated Care – who has as a vital need for sleep-in care, along with Gareth Hughes, Senior Support Worker, who supports Daniel. They were joined by dozens of people with learning disabilities, their families, care workers and representatives of the social care sector, who were able to convey the human impact the crisis could have to those who need support most.

Sleep-in care is where a person requires a support presence overnight but who can be asleep, and there is on-going legal debate about whether this time counts as working time and therefore if it needs to be paid at the minimum wage. The law is confusing in this area, the regulations say this time is not working time but court cases have ruled, in certain specific facts, carers who have worked sleep-ins are entitled to be paid and in some cases, back pay going back several years. This could result in a £400 million liability across the sector.

The confusing state of the law is putting the liability onto the providers of care, who at the time were paying the rate recommended and financed by the government and HMRC. The #SolveSleepIns Alliance believe it’s the government who should pay.

Speaking at the event Mark Adams said: “We have been proud to attend today’s event to support what we believe is an incredibly important cause, not just for Community Integrated Care, but for the future of the sector as a whole. “We were pleased to see over 30 MPs in attendance, genuinely open and willing to listen to the views of providers, families, and most importantly, people in need of support.

“We’ve been able to make some very strong points about this topic to the people who can really make a difference. The sleep-in crisis is a very real one which could cripple our sector – the financial burden of back pay forcing providers to close their doors, resulting in thousands of job losses across the nation and more importantly leaving people without the vital support they desperately need. So I am encouraged by the commitment in the room to look at much-needed solutions.

“Thank you to everyone who met with us, together we can help to get the social care sector the funding it deserves”