The King's Fund: Social care 360 (8 April 2026)

Summary

The King's Fund has launched the latest edition of their annual Social Care 360 report.

Content

2024/25 saw the continuation of a new trend in adult social care. Local authorities are spending more on social care, with that investment focused not just on paying higher fees to the providers who supply care, but, now, increasing the number of people who receive it as well. More people are now receiving publicly funded long-term care than at any time in the last decade.  

This change is due to increasing local authority spending power – the total amount that councils have to spend, both from money they raise themselves (for example, from council tax and business rates) and from central government grants.  

However, councils still do not have the resources to meet all the demands on them and their overall financial position is worsening. As a result, local authorities are increasing fees below the increase in costs faced by social care providers. This has potential implications for market stability, quality, and particularly private-paying clients, who are being charged much more for their care so that providers can balance their books.  

Taken together, the picture for social care remains precarious, then, with significant pressure on the government to ensure stability in the sector in the medium term, and on the Casey Commission to identify coherent proposals for reform in the long term.