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. 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. Adult social care took 44.5% and children’s services accounted for 27.4%.
In 2017-18, care costs made up 62.4% of councils’ core 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. These challenges have led Andy Burnham to make reform of the care system key to his government’s 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. 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. That review will now shape the form the new care service takes.
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”. She said the country faced a “moment of reckoning” over its failure to meet growing care needs. Halton in Cheshire had the highest net spending on social care relative to its spending power at 92.9% in 2025-26.
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. An official audit of the council published last month found its finances were unsustainable, despite it making cuts and selling off council assets. Halton received £35m in government-approved exceptional financial support this year.
A spokesperson for the council said the demand for services continued to place pressure on their finances. Some cover among the most deprived areas in England, including Blackpool, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. Adult care alone consumed more than half of core spending power at 19 councils.
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