Care home bosses in Birmingham have reacted with anger after an independent review concluded city council fees should be frozen.

The study, by consultants Madi Turpin and James Byatt of Solar, was commissioned by the council to ensure that a fair price was paid to homes.

It follows claims by care home owners that they are in danger of going bust due to a council payment freeze which has been in place since 2008.

The owners of 80 homes, grouped together in the Birmingham Care Consortium, saw a bid for a judicial review of the costs thrown out by the High Court during the summer.

The owners of 745 homes used by the council were contacted with question forms but a disappointing 85, about 11 per cent, were returned.

Only 17 offered to open their accounts for inspection and all of these were visited by the consultants. The consortium argues that the study is flawed on two points; the low response rate and a poor methodology and is calling for a new review.

And while there was found to be no need to increase fees, the inspectors concluded that some of the homes were in poor condition and there is a need, where Birmingham City Council is a key commissioner of services, to look at helping with capital maintenance and upgrade costs to ensure that properties are ‘‘fit for purpose’’.

The report also suggested the council needs to build bridges with care providers as the low level of response suggests there is a ‘‘high level of distrust’’.

Of those 85 who provided information, 67 were homes for younger adults with disabilities, and just 18 were homes for the elderly.

The inspectors looked at staffing levels, shift patterns, hourly rates, overtime rates and overheads such as cleaning, maintenance and laundry to work out the average cost per hour of care.

They concluded that the average cost of care for a younger adult is £9.59 per hour and for the elderly is £8.56 per hour. The report recognised differences in care, such as more for residents with dementia.