By Vivienne Russell | 15 May 2014
Labour has pledged to end the practice of local authorities commissioning 15-minute home care visits after a review found that elderly people in nearly two-thirds of areas were receiving this ‘clock watch care’.
Party leader Ed Miliband said the party would work with councils to end what the practice of care workers being scheduled for only 15 minute sessions and not being paid if they stay longer.
Labour peer Baroness Kingsmill reviewed the care sector in England and recommended that the Care Quality Commission develop a new Care Charter to raise standards, including ending time-limited visits. A new inspection regime for local authority commissioning should also be introduced.
Kingsmill found that between 150,000 and 220,000 care workers are paid less than the National Minimum Wage, often due to the failure to pay workers for time travelled between home care visits. In addition, an estimated 307,000 care workers are on zero-hours contracts.
Miliband said the figures showed the country’s care workers were often exploited.
'I know that councils are under enormous pressure from reductions in central government funding,’ he said. ‘But I am also determined that a Labour government will call time on clock watch care. We will work with councils and care providers to end this practice.’
Shadow care minister Liz Kendall said it was shocking that thousands of care workers were not paid the National Minimum Wage.
‘It is totally unacceptable that companies are failing to meet their legal duties,’ she said. ‘The government must immediately name the companies concerned, Revenue & Customs must take action in each case where it finds non-compliance, and dedicated care workers must get what they are owed.’
Responding to the review, Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield said its recommendations would begin to redress the exploitation of the home care workforce.
‘We also welcome the focus on strengthening the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage, and the recognition of the damage done to care quality by widespread use of zero hours contracts,’ she added.
‘Until these Victorian working practices are stamped out of care altogether it will be impossible to raise the status and standing of care.’
The report was published on the day the government’s reforms to the sector were introduced into law.
Care minister Norman Lamb said the Care Act 2014 represents the most significant reform of care and support in more than 60 years, which includes introducing a lifetime cap on social care costs.
‘To help make things clearer we have introduced a minimum eligibility threshold across the country – a set of criteria that makes it clear when local authorities will have to provide support to people,’ he said. ‘Until now, local authorities have been able to decide this threshold themselves, meaning decisions varied from place to place. And, in the face of financial pressures, a number of councils have raised their threshold level in recent years.
‘In future, councils will not be allowed to tighten their thresholds beyond this minimum threshold, giving those who are eligible peace of mind that they won’t have their care taken away from them because of some arbitrary change to the criteria.’
The cap on care costs, and an increase in means-tested support would mean 35,000 more older people will get help with their care costs when the system comes into force from April 2016, he said, rising to 100,000 by 2024/25.
