Care England, the largest and most diverse representative
body for independent providers of adult social care
in England, has today expressed disappointment at
the Government’s decision not to prioritise the care sector in
its support from electricity and gas.
Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England,
says:
“It is deeply concerning that the Government has overlooked
protecting care homes in the event of planned blackouts.
This is at odds with the treatment of the health sector, with
hospices being prioritised. With the National Grid warning
of winter blackouts amid the energy crisis as a result
of gas supplies from Europe being insufficient due to
the war in Ukraine, the Government has a responsibility to ensure
that some of the most vulnerable in society
remain protected. The vehicle to achieving this is by
placing care homes on the list of industries to be prioritised in
such an event. Whilst we recognise the support that has been
tabled by Government to support care homes, including the Energy
Bill Relief Scheme, more must be done. The Welsh
Government has issued a new grant scheme to support energy
efficiency improvements and decarbonisation across
Residential Social Care providers, which will help the sector
deal with the cost of energy crisis. What is preventing our
Government from acting pragmatically.”
According to the Department of Health and Social Care, the care
sector is not explicitly eligible to be prioritised for
electricity under the Electricity Supply Emergency Code
(ESEC). It is likely not technically feasible to
prioritise most provider sites as they will not be large enough
to have a discrete feeder i.e. the property’s electricity
supply cannot be isolated to that one property. However, hospices
remain on the list.
Martin Green continues:
“In the absence of being deemed a priority sector, we must
now look to local systems to ensure they are as resilient as
possible during the colder months. We encourage all
providers to ensure they have robust business continuity and
contingency plans in place and have registered with the priority
services register through their energy provider. Care providers
may well have to send more people to hospital, only accentuating
the current issue of hospital backlogs.”
