Calls to use council reserves to give care workers a pay rise will be heard by senior councillors after the majority of a committee abstained on a vote.

The healthier communities overview and scrutiny committee were updated on the current position regarding domiciliary care service where increasing waiting lists and recruitment issues are having an impact at its meeting on Wednesday.

Cllr Lyndon Lloyd called for a recommendation to be made to cabinet that council reserves be used to increase the pay of care staff to £15 an hour in order to attract more applicants and “tackle an urgent situation and use reserves to cover this crisis”.

Councillors questioned the clarity of the recommendation as well as making decisions “willy nilly” without full figures and considerations in place, including the need to consider equality of pay across sectors, but only one member voted against the proposal.

There were four votes in favour and eight abstentions, meaning the recommendation will be put to cabinet, with the committee agreeing to include reasons for the number of abstentions.

Currently Ceredigion is facing a similar situation to the rest of the country with providers all reporting loss of staff which is impacting on the availability of trained and qualified people, with recruitment also an issue, combined with a “relentless upward trend” in demand, a report to committee states.

As of Friday, Donna Pritchard, Porth Gofal corporate lead officer said there were 71 clients on the council waiting list for domiciliary care, including those in the community and in hospital, which is down from 76 last month but up from around 48 in August.

The council’s ablement service “bridge” the gap in commissioned domiciliary care services currently with more staff due to be taken on to expand capacity, as well as the use of short term residential care home places.

Ms Pritchard said there is a “significant amount of work happing across the authority to ensure that we’re not just trying to manage the current situation but also planning for the future and enhancing services”.

Consideration of moving to a “hybrid approach to delivering domiciliary care” she added, with the reliance of outsourced, commissioned care to be reduced by some domiciliary care being provided “in-house” alongside the ablement service.

How to improve commissioning and tendering process will also be examined, members heard.

The need for a national solution was also highlighted by the committee with lobbying of Welsh and UK governments required.