Children's care in the New Forest council area

Children's care in New Forest: questions people ask

How much does children's care cost in the New Forest council area?

Agencies in the New Forest council area quote by the hour after an assessment, so there is no single price. 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. Hampshire paid £23.97 an hour for the care it commissioned in 2023-24.

Will the council pay for children's care in the New Forest council area?

Hampshire 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 £23.97 an hour in 2023-24, the 26th 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 the New Forest council area are rated best?

6 of the 7 services in the New Forest council area carry a published CQC rating and 6 of those, 100%, are rated Good or Outstanding. 1 is rated Outstanding, the top grade: Bluebird Care (New Forest). A rating describes the service on the day it was inspected, so check the report date as well as the word.

Is the New Forest council area well served for children's care?

7 of the 39 home care services in the New Forest council area are registered to support this, 18%, 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 the New Forest council area?

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. 1 of the 7 services in the New Forest council area 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.