Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that homecare workers are paid for time spent travelling between clients; and if he will make a statement.

The Department is clear that social care employers should pay homecare workers for their travel time between clients, in order for them to comply with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation.

Care providers must abide by the law with regards to payment of the NMW and we are taking steps to ensure this happens. The Department is liaising with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to name and shame any social care providers who do not comply with the NMW legislation and HM Revenue and Customs is continuing to carry out enforcement action in the social care sector and will investigate all complaints made by care workers that their employer is not paying them the NMW. In addition, the Department is looking to ensure that the statutory guidance that will accompany the Care Act on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed care packages with agreed quality of care.