ACCORDING to the article in the Western Telegraph of February 6th regarding my disclosure of illegal practices by care providers in the county, Pembrokeshire County Council Social Services is not prepared to take action to repair the situation.
They are contracted to care providers who do not comply with UK employment law, and their spokesperson said “that not paying travel time is not in itself unlawful.”
This is misguiding.
The county council are in fact collaborating with these companies, who by their own admission, do not pay traveling time to their domiciliary workers, some of them saying they arrange visits so travelling time is minimum, this is just a cop out.
A lot of these visits are for as little as 15 minutes, even if the next visit is next door it would take a few minutes, this adds up during the course of a shift.
The law states clearly that travel time must be paid. I am sure that both the officers and councillors who award these contracts are paid for their travel time when on council business.
The county council has a duty of care over both its citizens and how they spend our money.
I am not happy for my money to be paid to people who unlawfully deprive hard-working people of their honestly earned wages, are you?
Why don’t the county council ask care providers if they comply with UK employment law. If the answer is no that should be the end of the matter.
Social services are in enough trouble with child care issues, they need to sort this one out before the Welsh government gets involved.
VAL JONES
Angle
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article