The Homecare Association has issued a grave warning about unregulated care workers (Image: Getty)
Labour’s “punishing” Budget risks expanding an army of unregulated workers looking after Britain’s most vulnerable, a care boss has warned.
The Homecare Association, which speaks for regulated providers helping the frail and elderly live independently, says crippling National Insurance, employment rights and fair pay costs will encourage more providers to move to take employees off-payroll.
The result will be hundreds of thousands relying on help to live independently at home at risk of substandard care.
In a devastating assessment, shared exclusively with the Daily Express, it said: “The human cost of this regulatory failure is severe.”
Boss Dr Jane Townson said: “We believe that Labour’s punishing Budget measures, coupled with the high costs of the Employment Rights Bill and a Fair Pay Agreement, are likely to encourage more providers to move to unregulated care and off-payroll approaches.
“One aspect is that many introductory agencies connecting people who need care with sole trader care workers say that care workers are self-employed. It is highly unlikely care workers meet the criteria for self-employment.
“If there were an investigation and a tribunal, it would likely conclude care workers are employees and the older or disabled people they support are the employers. Any historic tax liabilities would therefore fall on the latter.
“Some councils push people to accept ‘self-employed’ care workers and we think should crack down on it.”
Dr Townson says the cost of the ‘punishing’ Budget would be unregulated care (Image: PA)
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget hammer blow will mean employers pay 15% NI on lower wages from April. It means those employing workers aged 21 for an eight-hour shift on the new minimum wage of £12.21 an hour will be liable for the tax after just one day.
One million people in the UK receive professional support to live in their own homes. This compares with fewer than 400,000 in care homes.
In a letter to ministers and NHS England, The Homecare Association warned: “Providers now face a 10% increase in costs from changes to employers’ National Insurance Contributions and a 6.7% rise in the National Minimum Wage. Direct staff costs after April will be an average of £22.71 per hour.
“You are aware of the grave situation the social care sector is now in. The care and support sector is at a tipping point. The Government is choosing to ignore the existential threat to provision of quality care and support, which will have a direct impact on the NHS. The Prime Minister’s pledge to reduce NHS waiting lists will fail if care and support provision fails.”
The blistering assessment comes as the Government attempts to shift care from hospitals to communities.
But those looking after the vulnerable are able to work with no qualifications or training because a substantial part of the industry is largely unregulated.
Five years ago, an inquiry found how those in need of care were at the mercy of an unlicensed and unskilled workforce, with as many as 500,000 people passing themselves off as registered carers and working cash-in-hand after advertising services on the internet.
The findings prompted the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Care to launch an urgent investigation.
Then co-chairwoman and Labour MP Louise Haigh warned: “I hadn’t realised how unqualified some of the workforce looking after our most vulnerable were.
“The system that has been created encourages a race to the bottom, encourages bad employers and creates a huge amount of risk for staff and the people who are being cared for.
“It is inevitable we will have scandal after scandal while we are underfunding, undervaluing and underpaying the system and the workforce. This is a national emergency.”
The Government wants to shift care from hospitals to the community but has been warned of a crisis (Image: Getty)
The APPG found a sector in crisis. It was appalled to learn there is no compulsory register or industry-recognised minimum standard qualification for those tasked with administering life-saving care to seriously ill patients. Training and development is largely at the discretion of individual providers with some carers telling how they were expected to look after pensioners with complicated conditions after receiving just two half days of training, which included no first aid.
One industry expert said: “I have seen care jobs advertised on Craigslist, Gumtree and Facebook which, with no legal requirement for registration, is legal. I have seen people with live-in housekeepers who double up as carers. They have never trained in care and, despite good intentions, lack the skills and knowledge to deliver care well. This means that there is a huge potential for
abuse. At the moment care workers that do not perform well are able to just move to the next provider. There is no way of tracking or stopping them from working in the industry further.”
Carers have described a chaotic and unregulated industry in which they are poorly paid and forced to work unmanageable hours, leaving many sick, burned out and stressed.
Most are paid between £8-£13 an hour, similar to those serving in a fast food restaurant or working on a supermarket checkout. And tens of thousands are only paid for the work they deliver, not the time spent driving between jobs.
Dr Townson said: “Many councils and NHS bodies are contracting with unassessed and unrated providers because they are cheap. They are prioritising price over quality and safety.
“We’ve heard many stories about poor care provided by agencies that bid at the lowest prices. Care workers who speak no English; have received no training; are not using appropriate equipment; and do not understand fluids, continence, or medication, including how to administer morphine safely.
“We are appalled that the NHS and councils sanction and condone this substandard care with impunity”.
The Treasury said: “ is aware of organisations who promote self-employed working models for care workers. This might be the correct tax treatment depending on the specific arrangements in place but ’s view is that most care workers providing care in their client’s home would usually be employed for tax purposes.
“ is committed to robustly tackling false self-employment and will investigate any evidence suggesting companies may have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. In these cases, will take steps to ensure the right tax, NICs, interest, and any penalties are paid.”