Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many self-employed care workers operate in England, and what assessment they have made of how many of those workers meet the criteria for self-employment.

There is no available estimate of the number of care workers who are self-employed. The only available data on self-employment within the adult social care sector is for personal assistants who are employed by direct payment recipients.

Skills for Care estimates that in 2024/25, there were 100,000 personal assistants (PAs) working for direct payment recipients, and of these, 10% were self-employed. There is no equivalent data available on self-employed PAs who are working for individuals funding their own care.

The Department has not made an assessment of how many of these workers meet the criteria for self-employment.