A Welsh council has been accused of a “gross dereliction of duty” after announcing it will no longer store and distribute free PPE for care providers.

Denbighshire County Council said the decision had been made as a result of “financial pressures”.

A council spokesperson said: “Denbighshire has taken a decision not to store and distribute PPE to its care providers based on the fact that there is no funding from Welsh government to support this and unfortunately the financial pressures that the council is under as a local authority has led to it having to make this very difficult decision.

“The amount of PPE the council was delivering to care providers has reduced significantly over the last 12 months and whilst it recognises that many of its providers utilised the service, others haven’t. Without any additional Welsh government funding Denbighshire County Council is simply not in a position to continue renting a storage unit and staffing it.”

The council noted some local authorities in North Wales were asking care providers to collect PPE from storage sites with other ceasing storage and distribution.

Care Forum Wales (CFW) chair Mario Kreft MBE said the move showed a “blatant disregard for the safeguarding of vulnerable people” and was a “further demonstration that the authority was not fit for purpose”.

Kreft added: “It’s shocking and a dereliction of duty by the authority and they should be held to account for it.”

CFW said Denbighshire was one of three councils no longer storing and distributing PPE provided free by the Welsh government along with Merthyr Tydfil and Newport.

A Newport City Council spokesperson said it had distributed all remaining stock to providers following the ending of government arrangements for provision in June.

The spokesperson said: “Within the last month, the government has reconsidered its position, and asked councils to provide information around the practicalities of resuming this provision. The council is currently working with Welsh government on this.”

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “Local authorities are responsible for the onward distribution of PPE from their Joint Equipment Stores to social care providers.”