Councils underfunded home care and older people’s care home services in England by just under £2.9bn in 2021-22, according to an analysis by provider bodies.
The figure is based on an examination of cost of care exercises that councils carried out recently to determine sustainable fee rates for these services and to identify how far they were from paying them.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services warned that the exercises – which the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) required authorities to carry out – revealed a significant shortfall.
Umbrella organisation the Care Provider Alliance (CPA) presented the analysis in an open letter to care minister Helen Whately. CPA member Care England said its analysis of the figures for older people’s care homes revealed a shortfall of over £2bn in this sector alone, with council residential care fees £218 a week below the calculated fair cost on average, and nursing home fees short by £231 per week.