Councils call for social care costs cap to be further delayed by at least a year

The adult social care charging reforms had already been pushed back by the Conservative government.

Councils have called for a delay to the ‘unfunded’ cap on personal care due to come in next year (Alamy/PA)

A long-promised cap on social care costs due to come into effect next year will be impossible to implement and must be further delayed, a body representing county councils has said.

An £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England has to spend on their personal care over their lifetime is due to come in from October 2025 as part of adult social care charging reforms which had been due to be implemented by the Conservative government from October 2023, but were delayed by two years.

While the cap was not mentioned in Labour’s manifesto, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, speaking last month before his party came into government, said it remained “the plan, as things stand”.

But the County Councils Network (CCN), which describes itself as the national voice for county and unitary councils, said its research has shown that the vast majority of local authorities it represents feel they are not well prepared to implement the reforms in that timescale.

Its analysis suggested the total cost of charging reforms – including the means test, cap, fair cost of care and operational costs – would be around £30 billion across nine years.

This is a rise from its previous estimate of £25 billion in 2022 and is down to a combination of inflation and a rise in demand for social care, it added.

The CCN said it will be “impossible” to deliver from autumn 2025 “with no funding committed to the reforms” and warned that Government cannot use money currently being spent on day-to-day adult social care services to fund them.

While acknowledging the frustration those needing care would feel at more delays, the organisation said going ahead with bringing in the reforms next year “could have some serious consequences” including cuts to other services.

Nine in ten local authorities are not well prepared to implement the reforms in October 2025. To put it bluntly, it will be impossible to implement these reforms next Autumn

Martin Tett, CCN

The CCN said 35 of its 37 member councils responded to its survey, carried out in late June, with 86% saying they were not well prepared for the reforms and 92% supporting a delay of at least a year or more.

Concerns were around funding and staffing, with the CCN estimating more than 5,000 additional staff across England would need to be recruited to implement the reforms.

Martin Tett, adult social care spokesperson for the network, said: “We are just over 15 months away from the introduction of seismic reforms in adult social care, and the new Government must make an urgent decision on their future.

“Councils have serious concerns over their deliverability: these new estimates show the costs have increased significantly to £30 billion over the next decade, while currently the reforms are totally unfunded.

“The political hiatus before the election also meant preparations have been suspended nationally, while locally councils have been focused on day-to-day services, and still face major shortages in social workers.

“As a result, nine in 10 local authorities are not well prepared to implement the reforms in October 2025. To put it bluntly, it will be impossible to implement these reforms next Autumn in the current timescales and with no funding committed to the reforms.

“Equally, the Government cannot take money currently being spent on day-to-day adult social care services for these reforms, with our survey showing it will have devastating consequences for councils and the thousands of people who rely on local authority care.

“We have always supported the principles of the reforms, as they will make the system fairer. But if the Government is to proceed with the reforms, then it must delay them by at least a year – but likely more – reassess the real costs and set out a way to fully-fund them.

“We understand yet another delay will be frustrating for campaigners, but the under current circumstances introducing them next year could have some serious consequences.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said the Government must listen to the views and experiences of local authorities when making decisions about the charging reforms and described going ahead in “an unrealistic timescale and without the resources needed” as “the worst possible outcome for the public”.

The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.