Council bosses have refused to increase a care home fee uplift – after being ordered to reconsider the decision by a High Court judge.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council decided in July 2024 that it would be increasing the fees it pays care homes by 1.4 per cent in 2024/25 – the minimum uplift allowed under its contract with providers and below the rate of inflation.

The decision was ruled to be unlawful by the High Court, as the council had failed to properly take into account a number of factors, such as statutory guidance and the responses to a consultation. His Honour Judge Tindal ordered the council to retake the decision after considering these issues.

The council has now done so, but has still decided to increase the fees by 1.4 per cent, arguing that this remains the correct decision. Staffordshire Care Association (SARCP), which represents care homes and launched the legal challenge which led to the High Court ruling, had called for a nine per cent uplift, claiming that this reflected the true cost of care.

HHJ Tindal said in his judgment that reconsidering the decision did not necessarily mean coming to a different conclusion.

A report on the decision, written by Peter Tomlin, the council's director of adult social care, states that the council has to control spending while also supporting a care market to meet need, resulting in a 'very difficult balancing act'.

According to the report, the council has taken into account various factors in relation to market conditions, including a cost of care exercise, benchmarking data, quality of care, supply and demand and provider failure. Mr Tomlin said that if a particular care home is struggling, the council will look into its specific costs of care, with extra funding available if needed.

His report states: "The authority has considered its own resources, and has not set an 'arbitrary ceiling'. It has established with clear evidence that care home providers have the ability to meet assessed needs and provide the agreed quality of care within the existing resources available to them.

"Based on this the council has decided to award the contractual minimum fee uplift, which is 1.4 per cent. This is not an arbitrary cost ceiling and has been arrived at after considering the full cost of care and the totality of the funds made available by the council to meet the needs of the residents of care homes."

The council is seeking permission to appeal the High Court judgment from the Court of Appeal, but it still had to reconsider the care home fee decision within 28 days of the HHJ Tindal's order.

At the time of the ruling, the council had 814 residents placed in 181 different care homes. A new contract with care homes will come into effect from April.

A city council spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a decision has been made regarding 2024-25 care homes fees in line with the High Court judgment. We have concluded that an uplift of 1.4 per cent to care homes will ensure that the needs of all residents can continue to be met.

"The council reserves its right to appeal the judgment and continues to work with care homes as valued partners in agreeing the uplift to fees for 2025-26."