Home care workers collectively spending extra £75m on fuel for work

The UK’s home care sector is spending an extra £75m on petrol and diesel compared to a year ago, according to research by the Homecare Association.

The home care sector’s collective spending on fuel is up from £224 million a year in May 2021 to £299 million in May 2022.

Since May 2021, the cost of petrol and diesel has steadily increased, rocketing in recent months, with analysts predicting petrol could rise to as much as £2 a litre in the next couple of months.

Based on analysis of research by the consumer research website, NimbleFins, the Association found that an estimated 113 million litres are being used by petrol cars on home care visits a year and 60 million litres are used by diesel cars.

'Dramatic rise in fuel costs since May 2021'

The Homecare Association, which represents home care providers, is urging the government to pay for a temporary fuel allowance to cover rising fuel costs for vehicles used to deliver home care, as well as reinstate emergency Covid-19 funding for care workers to receive full sick pay.

Jane Townson, the chief executive of the Homecare Association said: “We reiterate our call for the government to provide temporary grant funding as a fuel allowance to cover increased costs of fuel for vehicles needed to deliver home care.

"As we have seen, the UK home care sector requires an extra £75 million to cover the dramatic rise in fuel costs since May 2021.”

In the 2022 Spring Statement, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut the fuel duty by 5p per litre (from 58p per litre to 53p per litre) for petrol and diesel.

But as reported by the AA, this fuel duty cut was not typically passed on to drivers when filling their vehicles. The average per litre price for petrol fell by only 2.7p the following week and there was a drop of only 1p for diesel. In the UK, an estimated 1.5 billion miles are driven in a year for home care visits – with an average travel distance of 2.8 miles per home care visit.

As fuel prices are higher now than before the fuel duty cut, the Homecare Association has said the government’s fuel duty cut was ‘ineffective’.

There is also currently a major disparity in mileage rates received by NHS staff and home care workers, with the former often being paid 54p per mile but home care workers sometimes only 10p per mile.

In March 2022, the Association conducted a survey of its members to assess how the sector was being impacted by rising fuel prices.

Of the 627 home care providers who responded to the survey, half said care workers had requested an increase in the mileage rate, while more than a fifth (21%) added that care workers had either given notice, intended to look for work elsewhere or had already done so because they cannot afford to put fuel in their cars.

Many home care workers are leaving the sector for higher paid jobs. The job vacancy rate in home care is 13.5 per cent - the highest ever recorded.

Some 92 per cent of providers are concerned about the effect of rising fuel costs on the financial viability of their company. Some are handing back work and the majority are turning down new referrals due to staff sickness or isolation. The lack of available home care is causing delays in discharging people from hospital back home.

Labour MP Jessica Morden raised the issue of high fuel prices during a Westminster Hall debate on an e-petition that asked for a 40 per cent cut to fuel duty for the next two years.

Many workers cannot buy more fuel-efficient cars

Many home care workers are not able to afford to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles, which is especially problematic in cities where a Clean Air Zone (or other local equivalent) is in operation.

The Association argues there is the possibility that home care workers could be made exempt from daily charges. While health and care workers are not listed under the national exemptions for the charge, a local authority could introduce their own exemption.

Jane Townson added: “For home care workers already struggling with the inflated cost of living, purchasing a compliant vehicle, even with a discount, may not be a realistic option.

“In the zones where cars could be liable for a charge, there is a lack of consistency regarding an exemption/discount for home care workers. It seems strange that local authorities have been left to their own devices in making such decisions.

“Consequently, we also call on the government to add health and care workers to the national list of exemptions.”

Karolina Gerlich, chief executive of The Care Workers' Charity has tweeted (@KGerlich777) her support for home care workers by posting: 'Our full support with your call.

'We’ve had an increase in applications around fuel poverty and we are desperately looking for more funding to fund financial support to care workers around that."