The combined impact of the Autumn Budget changes to National Insurance and the minimum wage will have a devastating effect on homecare providers. We've taken action by writing a hard-hitting letter to the Health and Social Care Secretary, Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, outlining the critical issues facing the sector:
- Employment costs are set to rise by 9.9% in 2024/25, before accounting for inflation in other costs.
- To simply maintain current service levels, homecare providers require a 10-11% increase in fee rates.
- We need an additional £1.9 billion per year just for homecare to cover these new costs and historic funding deficits.
In our letter, we've called for immediate government intervention, including:
- Exempting homecare from the NI contribution changes.
- Providing a £1.9 billion cash injection to cover increased employment costs.
- Securing a multi-year funding settlement to meet future social care demand.
- Implementing a National Care Contract with minimum homecare pricing.
Now, our highest priority is to highlight the significant impact the Autumn Budget 2024 could have on providers. To help you do this, we have drafted two template letters which you can download and send via email or by post. In both letters, we have left spaces for you to add personalised data about your business, services, or key concerns in the local area.
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Letter to the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care regarding concerns about Autumn Budget 2024 measures.
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Letter to your local MP regarding concerns about Autumn Budget 2024 measures and to arrange a meeting so you can demonstrate how important your care business and services are to the local community.
We encourage all homecare providers to use the text of our letters to write to the Health and Social Care Secretary and your local Members of Parliament. Make your voice heard on this critical issue that threatens the very sustainability of our sector.
Read the response to the Budget from our Chief Executive, Dr Jane Townson OBE, here.
