Yesterday the UK Homecare Association (UKHCA) announced it had calculated a minimum hourly rate for domiciliary care of £20.68 for 2020-21, an increase from £18.93 this year.

Earlier this month LGC reported a 6.2% rise in the ‘national living wage’ from April for workers aged 25 and over was expected to cost councils an estimated £220m next year just for adult social care.

UKHCA said its price is “the legally compliant pay rate for care workers”, including travel time, and mileage, and “the minimum contribution towards the costs of running a care business at a financially sustainable level”.

Councils in England are directed to UKHCA’s methodology in the Department of Health’s care and support statutory guidance but not all adhere to it.

UKHCA’s policy director Colin Angel said: “Councils and the NHS must recognise the true costs of home care.

“Paying providers fees which in some cases barely cover the costs of the wage-bill continues to destabilise an already fragile state-funded market.

“Persistently underestimating providers’ business costs is taking a risk with the quality of services, the experience of the workforce, and providers’ ability to comply with the legal requirements placed on them.”