Councils have called for the needs of hundreds of thousands of working age adults and life-long disabled people requiring social care not to be overlooked in government plans for a National Care Service.
It comes as major new analysis by County Councils Network (CCN) and Newton launched reveals that the costs of providing care for these individuals is now far outpacing social care to the over 65s, with two-thirds of adult social care commissioning budgets dedicated to working age and lifelong disabled adults.
The report warns increased complexity of individual needs, a substantial rise in placement costs, and ‘inappropriate and insufficient’ housing options could mean councils’ care and support spending for these individuals could top £17bn by 2030 – a 50% increase compared to 2024.
Launching the report CCN Adult Social Care Spokesperson Cllr Martin Tett said the research shows that caring for working age and lifelong disabled adults is one of the ‘most important and rewarding responsibilities for councils’ but their ‘forgotten needs and challenges’ are constantly overlooked in the debate on reforming adult social care. The report reveals:
- The costs of providing care and support for working age adults and those with a lifelong disabled condition is now the largest area of adult social care expenditure in England. In 2023/24, 63% of all adult social care commissioned support, such as residential and home-based care, was on working age adults, despite these individuals making up just 40% (338k) of all adult social care service users.
- Councils have witnessed a dramatic rise in the costs these services over the past five years, up by a third. Councils commissioned expenditure on care and support for working age and lifelong disabled adults has increased from £8.3bn in 2019 to £10.9bn in 2024, a rise of 32%.
- Increased spending is driven by the complexity and type of care individuals are receiving, rather than increased numbers of people requiring support. The average level of weekly expenditure per individual has increased by 31% for working age and lifelong disabled adults between 2019 and 2024, from £565 to £735.
- Care packages for working age adults with the most complex learning disabilities have witnessed the most acute rise in placements costs. Individuals in this cohort typically receive a care package with an average weekly cost of £3,316 per person. This has increased by an average £1,299 in the last year. Support for working age adults with a learning disability is the single biggest element of council commissioning, representing 37% – £6.4bn – of all care and support costs and more than the total amount spent on over 65s.
- Without reform councils’ costs to provide care and support for working age adults will grow to reach £17bn by the end of the decade. If the current growth in working-age adult social care support continues, this will lead to a total increased cost to local authorities of at least 50% – or £6bn more per year – for England by 2030.
You can download the report here.
Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash
