The Homecare Association responds to the provisional local government finance settlement 2025 to 26. They say its ‘peanuts’ at best.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Our Chief Executive, Dr Jane Townson OBE says:
Once again, the government has chosen to sell the social care sector short. The additional £200 million for social care in the Provisional Settlement, while welcome, is wholly inadequate to stabilise the sector.
We remain seriously concerned about the funding deficits for homecare services. Today we published our Minimum Price for Homecare 2025-26, which calculates in England the cost of homecare to be £32.14 per hour. This is the minimum rate a homecare provider needs to meet employment and care regulations, deliver quality services and operate sustainably. As it stands, the extra funding required by public sector bodies to commission homecare at this price is £1.8 billion.
The Local Government Association estimates it will cost them £1.77 billion to meet additional costs following the Autumn Budget. We cannot therefore see how today’s announcement supports the government’s grand vision of a National Care Service.
Careworkers deserve better. Employers cannot offer Fair Pay without a Fair Price for care.
If Labour is serious about improving social care, they must act now. The government must increase funding for councils to address rising costs and deficits in homecare.
We call on the government to:
- Provide an immediate cash injection of £1.8 billion for homecare to cover the increased employment costs resulting from budget decisions and previous deficits.
- Exempt care providers from changes to employer’s national insurance contributions.
- Ensure a multi-year funding settlement for social care to meet future demand and cover the full cost of care (estimated £18.4 billion needed by 2032/33).
- Implement a National Contract for Care service that sets a minimum price for care services. This will ensure public sector commissioners pay the full cost of quality care.
ENDS
Contact
Daisy Cooney - Head of Policy, Practice and Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07435 910654
