Leader who 'muted' member in care home fee row defended

Earlier this month, Denbighshire County Council’s cabinet agreed an 8.8 per cent increase in residential and nursing care home fees for 2024/25 at the cost of just over £1m.

When speaking at the cabinet meeting at Denbighshire’s Ruthin County Hall, cllr Bobby Feeley slammed the 8.8 per cent rise before she was abruptly "silence" by leader cllr Jason Mclellan.

Cllr Feeley was criticising the level of consultation carried out with homes around the level of fees and the fact that Care Forum Wales were not on board with the 8.8 per cent rise proposals.

She was later muted by cllr McLellan; the leader said at the time that he "hated" muting the councillor but argued cabinet members had "priority" when speaking and accused cllr Feeley of persisting to talk when asked to cease speaking.

Mario Kreft, chair of Care Forum Wales, term the moment as “utterly disgraceful”.

He commented that cllr McLellan had "behaved like a bully" and that he should now consider is position which was now “untenable”.

He said: “Cllr Feeley was asking serious and legitimate questions when the leader pressed the mute button to ensure that she could not be heard.

“She was quite rightly criticising the level of consultation ahead of the totally inadequate 8.8 per cent increase in fees which has been immediately wiped out by inflation and the cost of living crisis.

“According to cllr Feeley, the council should have done more to engage with Care Forum Wales along with individual providers and she was understandably unhappy there had been no meaningful dialogue with us.

“The pretence that the council has properly consulted social care providers in Denbighshire is a total sham and the reason they don’t want to listen is that they are in denial about the true cost of providing care.

“Cllr McLellan is acting like a tinpot totalitarian dictator in muting anybody who deigns to question this unjust regime in Denbighshire."

He added: "Democracy is about accountability and there is clearly no accountability in Denbighshire who shamefully have the lowest fees in the whole of Wales.

“Citing the 3.8 per cent settlement from the Welsh Government as an excuse just won’t wash I’m afraid.

“They only have took across the Foryd Bridge in Rhyl which links Denbighshire with the neighbouring county of Conwy where they have taken a completely different and much fairer approach.

Mario Kreft MBE, chair of Care Forum Wales, by the Foryd Bridge which links Rhyl in Denbighshire with Kinmel Bay in Conwy (Image: Mandy Jones)
“Despite having a lower increase of around two per cent in overall funding from the Welsh Government, Conwy Council have agreed considerably higher increases for care home fees of between 18 per cent and 20 per cent.

“After years of campaigning by Care Forum Wales, Conwy chose to use the toolkit by leading healthcare economists Laing and Buisson to calculate their much more realistic rates.

"It was fair and transparent and the complete opposite of what’s happened in Denbighshire.

“The upshot is that Denbighshire will be paying £9,224 a year less per person than in Conwy for providing exactly the same level of nursing care to residents.

“It is beyond belief that cllr McLellan and cllr Ellen Heaton, the cabinet member for health and social care, should attempt to justify the absurd situation where an elderly person with dementia in Rhyl should be deemed be worth £9,000 less than elderly person just across the Foryd Bridge in Kinmel Bay."

A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: “Mr Kreft has chosen to make allegations in the press about the conduct of the meeting of Denbighshire County Council’s Cabinet on March 19. It is clear that Mr Kreft has either not viewed the webcast of the meeting in its entirety or has misunderstood the procedure.

“The meetings of cabinet are open, transparent and webcast live. The meetings are governed by rules of procedure set out in the council’s constitution. These rules provide that discussions are directed through the chair of the meeting.

"On Tuesday, March 19 when discussing setting residential and care home fees for 2024/25, cllr Jason McLellan, who was chairing, allowed all those members who were in attendance an opportunity to speak. The reason for muting cllr Feeley’s microphone was that she was speaking when the chair was attempting to allow others to speak in turn. Cllr Feeley who, was attending remotely, was unaware that she was speaking over the chair and did apologise to the chair. Cllr Feeley had at that point already spoken in the debate and was invited to speak again after other members had been given an opportunity to speak.

"There was a good debate of the issue which was conducted in an open and respectful way. The video of the meeting is available for anyone to view on the council’s website.

“Denbighshire County Council has approved the proposed 8.8 per cent increase in residential and nursing home care fees.

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"Considering that this is significantly more than the 3.8 per cent increase received in our settlement, this decision reflects that, even in the face of significant financial challenge, the council is prioritising the provision of care in the community.

“Denbighshire currently spends around £13 million on approximately 364 placements in 82 homes. With this increase, expenditure is set to increase by over £1 million. This strives to strike the delicate balance between navigating challenging financial constraints and ensuring that we are maintaining a sustainable future for the care sector in Denbighshire and whilst this decision comes with financial implications, it reflects our priorities as a council, and upholds our commitment to prioritising care provision in our community.

“We value our care providers in Denbighshire and remain committed to fostering an open and fair relationship with them.”