Mario Kreft, chair of Care Forum Wales (CFW), has called for a government inquiry into a north-south divide in care home fees.

In a letter to North Wales minister Lesley Griffiths, Kreft said the current situation “provides further evidence of the ingrained institutional prejudice endured by the independent sector care homes in their dealings with local government across the region”.

An investigation carried out by CFW revealed the rates paid for residential care by the six councils in North Wales were the lowest in Wales.

Four care homes in the region have closed in recent months with the loss of over 160 beds.

Kreft said: “The current position has been brought about by political decisions over a number of years including the use of a deeply flawed fee calculating methodology which has been aimed at paying independent providers the lowest possible fees that local authorities could get away with.

“It is now time to look beyond the institutional prejudice against the independent sector and to embark on an innovative national approach with a national minimum fee that is co-produced and brings both quality to the resident, security and peace of mind to their families, fair terms and conditions to a heroic and valuable workforce and real value for money to the tax payer who are providing a solid foundation for the NHS.”

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to meet people’s social care needs, and how they deliver that is determined by each local authority rather than the Welsh government.

“We hugely value social care and the significant increase in the 2023-24 local government settlement shows our commitment to meeting the pressures in social care. We are also working hard to recruit more social care staff in Wales. £70 million has been invested to ensure all social care workers continue to get paid at least the Real Living Wage, and an extra £43 million has been invested to help ensure fair wages for social care workers and we will continue to work with the sector to improve terms and conditions.

“We are also developing a National Framework for Commissioning Care and Support to support good practice across Wales. This aims to ensure greater consistency in the way local authorities and health boards commission care and support.”