Purpose

To seek Cabinet member approval to implement a combined hourly rate as proposed within the report for Homecare providers, incorporating both care and travel time, with effect from 1 November 2026.
 

Decision

RESOLVED to:

1)      Approve Implementation of the combined hourly rate incorporating both care and travel time, via contract variation, with effect from 1 November 2026.

2)      Agree the approach to tax free mileage uplift, ensuring increases are passed through to care workers.

Reasons for the decision

Financial Sustainability

The approach enables the Council to deliver required efficiencies while continuing to meet its statutory duties and maintain a balanced budget in the context of significant financial pressures.

Market Stability:

The proposed rate is based on robust cost modelling and supported by evidence that the current provider market remains stable and financially viable. This ensures that providers can continue to deliver services and meet statutory employment requirements.

Simplification and Alignment:

Moving to a combined hourly rate simplifies payment arrangements, improves transparency, and aligns Derbyshire’s approach with that of neighbouring local authorities, reducing complexity for both the Council and providers. It also brings us closer to the model used by Derby City Council which has benefits with pending Local Government Re-organisation.

Alternative options considered

The council could choose to continue to pay the travel rate separately from the care rate to all Homecare providers. This is likely to result in Derbyshire continuing to remain an outlier from other Local Authorities in the region. It would also not achieve important efficiencies identified by the proposal. Alternatively, the Council could terminate the existing framework agreement with providers and reprocure under a new framework incorporating the recommended modifications. However, this option will require considerable time and resources to implement; in any event the current framework still has (up to) a further 8 years left to run (so a re-procurement is unlikely to be popular with existing providers).