87% of local authorities pay less than minimum price for homecare

A new report from the Homecare Association details the state of homecare funding in the UK.

The average hourly fee paid by local authorities in England for homecare was determined as being £18.54. However, only 1 in 8 (13%) of public organisations that provided figures for the research were paying an average price at, or above, the Homecare Association’s Minimum Price for Homecare of £21.43 per hour, which they calculate as an absolute minimum to ensure compliance with the national legal minimum wage, current care regulations, and to ensure sustainability of services.

Shockingly, five public organisations reported paying average fee rates below £15.19 per hour, which is the direct cost of a care worker on the national legal minimum wage of £8.91 per hour and allowing for average employment on-costs such as National Insurance, holiday and sick pay and mileage. These authorities were named and shamed as follows:

• Halton (£12.68)

• Cumbria (£13.85)

• Western HSC Trust, Northern Ireland (£14.21)

• Ealing (£15.00)

• Basildon and Brentwood CCG (£15.11)

Source: Homecare Association – The Home Care Deficit Report 2021