Minister says sorry for letter delay

Care services minister Ivan Lewis is being forced to issue an apology to the leading representative body for home care providers after its representations over low rates paid by councils went ignored for months.

The UK Care Home Association criticised Lewis for failing to acknowledge a letter, written in July, which said local authorities were breaching competition law in their treatment of external providers.

Vice-president Bill McClimont has had no response to the letter, and said he was surprised by the “discourtesy” on the part of Lewis’s office.

A Department of Health spokesperson blamed the failure to respond on an “administrative error” and said: “This was absolutely not a case of dodging the issue.”