A LOCAL authority described as a 'Scrooge council' have defended themselves after being awarded a giant wooden spoon for paying the lowest care home fees in Wales.

According to not-for-profit organisation Care Forum Wales (CFW), Denbighshire County Council "deserve to be named and shamed" because they are  “literally the lowest of the low in terms of their meanness of spirit which would even make Ebenezer Scrooge blush with embarrassment”.

It is also alleged they refused to hand out free personal protective equipment paid for by the Welsh Government.

An investigation by CFW revealed that six North Wales local authorities were at the bottom of the league table for paying the lowest rates for residential care.

The lowest five - Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd, Ynys Mon and Wrexham - pay £711.83 per person, per week, for fully regulated care.

Flintshire County Council pays marginally more, £727.55, placing the authority sixth from bottom.

A care home in Denbighshire receives £10,432 less per resident, per year, than a care home in parts of South Wales.

In a 50-bed care home that’s a difference of more than £500,000 a year for providing exactly the same level of service and being subjected to the same regulations.

Mario Kreft, chair of CFW, said: “We could have given the wooden spoon, which recognises the meanest local authority which pays the lowest residential care home fees, to any one of five North Wales councils because they are joint bottom of the league of shame.

“Last year it was awarded to Flintshire who are slightly out of the frame this year and this year it’s Denbighshire who deserve to be branded as the Scrooge council, although it must be said that the fees in Flintshire are still abysmally low.

“What tipped the balance was that Denbighshire Council is the only North Wales council to turn down the offer of free PPE from the Welsh Government who recognised the importance of protecting vulnerable people and staff in care homes. It’s an open and shut case.

“Members of the Senedd, particularly those who represent North Wales, should not turn a blind eye to this injustice.

“When you look at care homes in Denbighshire, they are almost without exception small and medium-sized local businesses – family-run organisations like most of our economy in North Wales.

“They provide crucial services to their communities, often reflecting the local culture and language , as well as providing vital support to families in the run up to Christmas so the way they are being treated is truly shameful."

A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: “In 2023/24, Denbighshire County Council accepted the indicative care fee rates that were agreed by the Regional Care Fees Group consisting of the six local authorities and the Health Board. We also continued to offer providers the opportunity to enter in to an ‘open book’ discussion with us if they could evidence that our indicative fee did not cover their specific costs.

"Denbighshire County Council took the difficult decision, back in July 2023, not to store and distribute PPE to its care providers based on the fact that there was no funding from Welsh Government to support this and unfortunately the financial pressures that the council is under as a local authority led to it having to make this very difficult decision.

"The amount of PPE the Council was delivering to care providers had reduced significantly over the last 12 months and whilst recognising that many of its providers utilised the service, others hadn’t. Without any additional Welsh Government funding Denbighshire County Council was simply not in a position to continue renting a storage unit and staffing it.

"Care providers expressed to the council that they were disappointed that Welsh Government was unable to continue the funding for storage and onward distribution, but also added their thanks for the support they have received over the last three years and they took the opportunity to collect PPE from the amount the council had left.

“We continue to be committed to engaging and working with the sector as we have done for many years.”