The Homecare Association welcomes The King’s Fund’s analysis showing that access to publicly funded long-term care can differ by as much as 101% between councils with similar social and economic profiles. It warns that reform will fall short unless it also tackles what councils pay for care.
Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive of the Homecare Association, said:
“The care you receive should depend on what you need, not where you live or what your council can afford. Today, too often, it does not.
“The postcode lottery does not end at the assessment. Councils pay very different rates for homecare, and many pay well below the £34.42 an hour it costs to deliver care lawfully. Nearly three in ten councils and trusts across the UK do not even cover the direct cost of employing a careworker on the minimum wage.
“We support national consistency in assessment, fairer national funding and clear entitlements. But an entitlement to care is meaningless if nobody is funded to deliver it.
“Reform must pay the true cost of care, move beyond time-and-task commissioning and give people genuine control over support that helps them live well at home.
“A National Care Service must be national in its guarantees, personal in its delivery and properly funded in practice.”
Notes to editors
1. Minimum Price for Homecare 2026/27
The Homecare Association’s Minimum Price for Homecare for 2026/27 is £34.42 per hour. This is the minimum needed to pay careworkers the National Living Wage, meet statutory employment obligations, and cover travel, training and sustainable operating costs.
2. The Homecare Deficit 2025
The Homecare Deficit 2025 (November 2025) found that 29% of councils and Health and Social Care Trusts paid average hourly rates below the direct cost of employing careworkers at the minimum wage, almost four times the proportion in 2023. It estimated a UK-wide annual shortfall of £3.25 billion against the cost of paying careworkers on a par with NHS Band 3 healthcare assistants.
3. Deprivation and council tax analysis
Homecare Deficit 2025 - deprivation and council tax analysis (April 2026) finds that councils paying lower homecare fee rates tend to be in more deprived areas, but that deprivation and council tax requirement explain only part of the variation, pointing to commissioning practice as a major factor.
4. Homecare commissioning reform
Homecare: commissioning is the key to quality, fair work and better outcomes (September 2026) explains how fragmented commissioning, insufficient fees and payment by the minute undermine quality, workforce security and outcomes. It proposes fair prices, neighbourhood commissioning and a transition to outcome-based, consumer-directed care.
5. About the Homecare Association
The Homecare Association is the UK’s leading membership body for homecare providers. Our mission is to ensure that society values and invests in homecare so we can all live well at home and flourish in our communities. We have c. 2100 members who support older and disabled people to live independently in their own homes and communities.
Contact
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 020 8661 8160
Mobile: 07435 910654
