Homecare Association submission - Comprehensive Spending Review 2025

The Homecare Association have submitted a representation to H.M. Treasury to highlight key issues ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Summary of response

Government decisions have increased delivery costs for social care by 10% without matched funding.

Social care urgently needs funding to meet rising National Minimum Wage and National Insurance costs – estimated at £2.8 billion. If these remain unmet, a fifth of providers will consider closing and almost three-quarters will be unable to accept new care packages.

The sector is struggling with historic underfunding, increasing unmet need and rising demand. Tackling this requires £8.4 billion in 2024/25, rising annually thereafter by 6% real terms – likely over £9 billion by 2025/26.

The Employment Rights Bill aims to ensure fair pay, greater security of income and improved rights for careworkers. Aligning policy and practice will cost billions and needs government action. The Government must ensure public bodies buy homecare at a fair price and offer guaranteed work with secure payment schedules. Zero-hour commissioning for contact time only at low fee rates leads to low wages, unpaid travel time and insecure income for careworkers. We call for a National Contract for Homecare to address this.

Labour enforcement agencies and other regulators are severely under-resourced.

The Government cannot achieve its NHS aims without additional investment in social care. More training and investment are needed if careworkers are to take on extra healthcare tasks and use new digital systems.

The Government must act now. The Casey Review will be too late. Reform may be expensive, but doing nothing risks loss of care services, harm to people with care and support needs, and more pressure on the NHS.