How much does children's care cost in Southampton?

None of the 30 services in Southampton publish a price, so you get a figure by ringing them: most quote by the hour after an assessment. The Homecare Association calculates that a provider needs to charge at least £34.42 an hour in 2026-27 to pay careworkers the statutory minimum for all their working time and run a compliant business. Two half-hour visits a day at that rate is roughly £481.88 a week. Southampton paid £21.41 an hour for the care it commissioned in 2023-24.

Will the council pay for children's care in Southampton?

Southampton can arrange and fund care after a needs assessment, which is free and which anyone can request. What you contribute depends on a separate financial assessment. It paid providers an average of £21.41 an hour in 2023-24, the 69th highest of 150 councils in England. The Homecare Association's minimum sustainable price is £34.42 for 2026-27. Those are different years, so treat the pair as context rather than a like-for-like gap. What a council pays shapes which agencies will take council-funded work at all.

Which children's care services in Southampton are rated best?

19 of the 30 services in Southampton carry a published CQC rating and 19 of those, 100%, are rated Good or Outstanding. None is rated Outstanding. A rating describes the service on the day it was inspected, so check the report date as well as the word.

Is Southampton well served for children's care?

30 of the 157 home care services in Southampton are registered to support this, 19%, against 20% across England. That is about average. Registration is permission rather than specialisation, so it sets the size of the list rather than its quality.

How do I choose a children's care agency in Southampton?

Start with what the regulator publishes, then ask what it cannot tell you: who would actually visit, whether it is the same carer each time, what happens when that person is ill, and how long a call really lasts. 11 of the 30 services in Southampton carry no published verdict at all, so for those the questions are the only evidence you have. Every service here comes from the public register, and contacting one costs nothing: we take no fee and no commission.

Children's care in Southampton

There are 30 children's care services in Southampton registered with the Care Quality Commission. 19 carry a published CQC rating, and 19 of those are rated Good or Outstanding. The other 11 are unrated, which usually means they have not been inspected since registering rather than that anything is wrong. Privately arranged care is quoted by the hour, and the Homecare Association puts the minimum a provider must charge in 2026-27 at £34.42, or about £481.88 a week for two half-hour visits a day. The council paid providers £21.41 an hour in 2023-24, the 69th highest of 150 councils in England and 1% above the £21.19 median. That is 30 of the 157 home care services in Southampton. Registration sets what a service is allowed to provide. It does not say how well it does it, so read the inspection report and ring two or three before you decide.

What home care costs in Southampton

None of the 30 services in Southampton have published their rates here yet. Ring two or three and ask. Most will quote over the phone.

For comparison, the Homecare Association puts the minimum sustainable price at £34.42 an hour for 2026-27. That covers careworker pay at the statutory minimum for all working time including travel, mileage, wage-related costs, and the minimum cost of running a compliant care business.

How home care pricing works →

Southampton paid independent agencies a median of £21.41 an hour for the home care it commissioned in 2023-24, against the £34.42 the Homecare Association says it costs to deliver in 2026-27. What every council pays →

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Highlands Care Solutions

Southampton

Not yet rated · on the register 6 years

Caring for children (0 - 18yrs)
Sensory impairments
Caring for adults under 65 yrs
+5 more

Hourly rate: not published
Pays carers for travel: not published
Shortest visit: not published

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Southvale Care

Southampton

GoodCQC, Nov 2022one area rated lower

Caring for children (0 - 18yrs)
Sensory impairments
Caring for adults under 65 yrs
+7 more

Hourly rate: not published
Pays carers for travel: not published
Shortest visit: not published

Children's care in Southampton

What home care costs in Southampton

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Children's care in Southampton: questions people ask

Other kinds of care in Southampton