New union access rules could add hundreds of millions of pounds a year to the cost of homecare, providers warn

The Homecare Association has written to the Minister for Employment Rights warning that a late change to the Government's new Code of Practice on trade union access to workplaces could add hundreds of millions of pounds a year to the cost of delivering homecare in England - with no funding to pay for it.

The Code, laid before Parliament on 6 July 2026 and expected to come into force by October 2026, gives trade unions a new statutory right to request access to workplaces. Paragraph 83 of the final version states that employers should pay all workers, in full, for time spent attending union meetings held under an access arrangement during working hours - an expectation that goes beyond existing employment law, under which only union representatives, not attending members, have a statutory right to paid time off.

The provision was not consulted on in this form and no assessment of its cost to publicly funded care has been published. Government purchases around 80% of homecare in the UK. The Homecare Association's analysis shows that, across England's homecare, supported living and extra care workforce of 595,000 filled posts (Skills for Care, 2024/25), the additional cost of paid attendance at union access meetings could range from tens of millions of pounds a year at modest participation to more than £1 billion in a worst case:

Estimated additional annual cost to homecare in England. Assumptions: 595,000 filled posts in CQC-regulated non-residential care services (domiciliary care, supported living and extra care), England, 2024/25 – the latest Skills for Care estimate; independent-sector filled posts in these services grew a further 2.1% in 2025/26, so this is conservative. One hour per attendee per meeting, costed at the Minimum Price for Homecare 2026-27 of £34.42 per hour. Excludes administration, staff cover and travel costs. Figures are illustrative of scale, not forecasts.

The warning comes as the Association's research, The Homecare Deficit 2025, found that only one council in the UK paid a sustainable price for homecare in 2025/26, and that 29% paid rates that did not even cover direct employment costs at statutory minimum pay rates.

Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive of the Homecare Association, said:

“We support constructive relationships between employers and unions, and fair treatment of careworkers. Our concern is not the principle of union access - it is that the Government has slipped a significant new pay expectation into statutory guidance without consultation, without an impact assessment, and without a penny of funding to meet it.

“State purchasers of homecare are already paying less than the cost of lawful service delivery in most of the country. Providers cannot absorb hundreds of millions of pounds of new costs, and the councils and NHS bodies that buy care have not been funded to cover them. Unionised employers would also be undercut when bidding for work by operators with minimal union engagement and those using self-employment models that sit outside these rules - the opposite of what the Government's Fair Pay Agreement for social care is trying to achieve.

“We are asking ministers to clarify exactly what paragraph 83 requires, publish the costs, and fund them. If the Government wants to extend paid time off for union activity to the whole workforce, it should legislate for that openly - not introduce it through the back door of a code of practice and leave a fragile sector to pick up the bill.”

The Association has asked the Department for Business and Trade to clarify the scope of paragraph 83, publish an assessment of its cost to publicly funded care, and set out how the costs will be reflected in local authority and NHS funding settlements. The letter is copied to the Department of Health and Social Care, HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The Homecare Association is the UK's leading membership body for homecare providers, representing over 2,100 organisations of all sizes.
2. The Government published its response to the consultation on union access to workplaces on 6 July 2026
3. The Code of Practice on the right of trade unions to access workplaces, together with the Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) Regulations 2026, gives effect to section 59 of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Both have been laid before Parliament, and the framework is expected to come into force by October 2026. Paragraph 83 of the Code states that workers who attend a union meeting organised through an access arrangement during work time “should be paid, in full, for the duration of their absence from work”.
4. Under sections 168–170 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, union representatives are entitled to paid time off for union duties; union members are entitled to reasonable time off for union activities, but with no statutory right to pay.
5. Cost estimates use Skills for Care's estimate of 595,000 filled posts in CQC-regulated non-residential care services (domiciliary care, supported living and extra care) in England in 2024/25 – the latest homecare-specific figure, published alongside The State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England 2025. Skills for Care's 2026 Size and Structure report shows independent-sector filled posts in these services grew a further 2.1% in 2025/26, so the estimates are conservative.
6. Attendance is costed at the Homecare Association's Minimum Price for Homecare 2026-27 of £34.42 per hour – the minimum required to meet statutory obligations to the workforce and regulatory requirements. The Department of Health and Social Care directs councils to follow the Minimum Price approach in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. Estimates exclude administration, staff cover and travel costs, and are illustrative of scale rather than forecasts.
7. The Homecare Deficit 2025 found that only one UK council paid a sustainable price for homecare in 2025/26, and that 29% of public organisations paid average rates below direct employment costs at statutory minimum pay rates.
8. Market structure and income figures are from LaingBuisson, the sole independent company contracted to the Office for National Statistics to provide statistics on the independent health and social care sector: https://go.laingbuisson.com/homecare-report-7
9. The Government has committed to review the access framework within six months of implementation and to consult on changes to the Regulations and Code in early Spring 2027.