Local authorities in England spend around two-thirds of their budget on adults’ and children’s social care, a new analysis has revealed.
The research by Pixel Financial Management for the County Councils Network (CCN) found that authorities are spending £212 per person more on adults’ and children’s social care compared to a decade ago.
The combination of increased demand and rising costs have caused spending on the adults’ and children’s social care services to “mushroom”, CCN warned.
For councils with social care responsibilities, both services are consuming 65% of a local authority’s entire budget on average, which is up from 57% in 2014.
However, for the 37 upper-tier councils, that are members of the CCN, adults’ and children’s social care services account for 69% of their budgets, compared to 63% a decade ago.
Per person spending on children’s social care has increased “dramatically” to 77% over the last decade and consuming almost a quarter of all council expenditure (23%), the analysis revealed. In 2014, the service accounted for 18% of local authorities’ budgets.
Spending on adult social care has also risen by 48% per person over the same period, the research said.
The CCN’s analysis comes as earlier this month chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed his Spring Budget, which announced that unprotected government departments will see a real terms reduction in funding from 2025/26.
Roger Gough, CCN’s spokesperson for children’s services, said: “With more than two-thirds of the average county local authority’s budget now spent on just children’s services and adult social care, rising to three quarters in some areas, there is simply less and less each year for us to spend on highly valued services such as libraries, road repairs, and street lighting.
“This month’s Budget confirmed that the public finances remain extremely tight. Therefore, we need to have an honest discussion with all main political parties as we head into the general election on what councils can reasonably be expected to deliver, in a climate where substantive extra funds are unlikely and both demand and costs are set to rise.”
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