Local Government Provisional Finance Settlement Response

In response to today’s (Wednesday 18 December 2024) provisional local government finance settlement, Melanie Williams, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said:

“While this additional funding is welcome, there remains a funding gap of over £1bn for adult social care to even standstill next year, which means councils won’t be able to fully meet people’s care and support needs.  This means that fewer people will be able to draw on care and support to help them stay independent and well, such as transport to go shopping, a regular cooked meal or support for family carers.

“Limiting the number of people who can access adult social care creates a vicious cycle; too many people reach crisis point and end up in hospital unnecessarily because they aren’t receiving low level care at home, and they can’t leave hospital because there isn’t enough support to return home safely.

“To get people home from hospital quicker and prevent them from needing to go there in the first place, the Government must commit to a long-term, fully funded plan for social care, to make care at home and in the community the default option for everybody.”

Notes to editors

Key information table for local authorities: provisional local government finance settlement 2025 to 2026 – GOV.UK

• It’s important to note the additional £200 million funding within the social care grant is split between adult and children’s social care and for many councils. In our Spring Survey the average split of the Social Care Grant was 60:40 (adults:childrens). However, the proportion of the additional Social Care Grant allocated to adult social care varies greatly from council to council from 100% of the grant to 0%.
• We have not included the £515million to support councils with the costs associated with the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in our calculations as this is not specifically for adult social care.

Estimated Costs to Council Adult Social Care for 2025/25

• Approx. Employer NICs £517mn (net)
• Inflation CPI/NLW £1.2bn
• Demography £700mn
• Total = £2,417mn

Directly Available Funding for Adult Social Care from Government for 2025/26

• £648mn raised by ASC precept
• £582mn from Social Care Grant (assuming 60/40 distribution in favour of adult social care)
• Total = £1,176mn

Funding gap/shortfall = £1.241mn