Sixteen English councils spent more than 80% of their core funding on adult and children’s social care last year, highlighting the growing financial pressure on other local services.
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councils → spend → services
Guardian analysis of government figures found that councils responsible for social care spent a net £42.8bn on adult and children’s services in 2025-26, equivalent to a record 71.9% of their combined core spending.
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councils → find → spending
Adult social care took 44.5% and children’s services accounted for 27.4%.
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services → take → %
In 2017-18, care costs made up 62.4% of councils’ core spending.
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costs → make → spending
The overspending, which is driven by an ageing population with increasingly complex care needs, rising inflationary pressures and growing children’s social care demand, is pushing many councils to the brink of bankruptcy.
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which → drive → bankruptcy
These challenges have led Andy Burnham to make reform of the care system key to his government’s ambitions.
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reform → lead → ambitions
Speaking at the Labour conference on Tuesday, the prime minister announced that the government would begin laying the groundwork for a National Care Service to be introduced after the next election, paid for in part by changing the earnings element of the triple lock.
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Service → speak → lock
He has already accelerated a government-commissioned independent review of adult social care carried out by Louise Casey, which initially was due to be published in 2028 but is now expected next year.
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which → accelerate → 2028
That review will now shape the form the new care service takes.
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service → shape → form
Lady Casey delivered a withering critique of the state of the English social care system earlier this year, describing it as held together by “sticking plasters and glue”.
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Casey → deliver → plasters
She said the country faced a “moment of reckoning” over its failure to meet growing care needs.
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country → say → needs
Halton in Cheshire had the highest net spending on social care relative to its spending power at 92.9% in 2025-26.
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Halton → have → 2025
Just over half of its core spending was spent on adult social care and 42% was spent on child social care, which includes fostering services.
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which → spend → services
An official audit of the council published last month found its finances were unsustainable, despite it making cuts and selling off council assets.
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it → publish → assets
Halton received £35m in government-approved exceptional financial support this year.
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Halton → receive → support
A spokesperson for the council said the demand for services continued to place pressure on their finances.
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demand → say → finances
“The council is making necessary changes to drive down spending and improve its long-term financial sustainability,” the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → make → sustainability
“This includes introducing new ways of working that reduce costs while continuing to deliver good outcomes for vulnerable residents.”
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that → include → residents
Many of the 16 councils spending the largest proportions of their budgets on social care were forced to apply to the government this year for permission to borrow money to meet the day-to-day costs of running services and balance their budgets.
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Many → spend → budgets
Adult care alone consumed more than half of core spending power at 19 councils.
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care → consume → councils
That number has more than tripled since 2017-18, when six authorities crossed the same threshold.
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authorities → triple → threshold
Core spending power is the government’s measure of the money councils can use to provide services, combining locally raised income such as council tax and business rates with central government grants.
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councils → use → grants
It is not ringfenced, meaning councils can choose how to use it.
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councils → ringfence → it
Councils in England overspent their 2025-26 adult social care budgets by £715m, and in response have drawn up plans to save £909m, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
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Councils → overspent → Services
These will include higher charges for care and cuts to adult care services such as daycentres.
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These → include → daycentres
Analysis by the King’s Fund found that the recent rise in spending reflected a rise in the number of people being supported – contrasting with 2015-20 when, during a period of cuts to council budgets, increased social care costs were mainly going on the fees to social care providers.
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costs → find → providers
The King’s Fund’s senior fellow for social care, Simon Bottery, said demand for social care had risen due to England’s ageing population as well as more adults living longer with complex needs.
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demand → say → needs
He said: “Councils are meeting some of the extra costs faced by care providers, while also supporting more people.
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Councils → say → people
Those two factors combined account for the extra expenditure and the rising proportion of council funding going on care.
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factors → combine → care
“A higher proportion of council budgets is being spent on adult social care than a few years ago, which means services such as refuse collection, libraries and roads get squeezed.
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services → spend → collection
Only about 2% of the population receives adult social care in any one year, but councils are spending a huge proportion of their budgets providing it.
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councils → receive → it
“We need to move to a national system for funding social care to avoid the variation we’re seeing.
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we → need → variation
At the moment, someone may receive support in one local authority but not in the next.”
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someone → receive → next
Dr Wendy Taylor, the chair of the Local Government Association’s health and wellbeing committee, said: “Overall overspend has decreased slightly this year, but it remains high and is impacting spending on other council services.
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it → say → services
At the same time, councils’ capacity to spend on planned prevention is shrinking, with knock-on effects elsewhere in health and care services.
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capacity → spend → services
“Sustained and predictable funding and infrastructure will be essential for the future of adult social care, if councils are to successfully meet growing demand, deliver on their duties under the Care Act and support people to live the independent lives they want to lead.”
The Guardian excluded six councils that had not submitted their spending data for 2025-26.
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that → meet → 2025
The Aporia
