Policy paper

Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027

Published 18 December 2025

Applies to England

Ministerial foreword

Everyone - regardless of their needs, background or where they live - should have the opportunity to lead healthy, independent and fulfilling lives connected to friends, family and their community. Our ambition for adult social care is clear: to establish a national care service that makes this vision a reality.

A national care service must make sure that care and support is responsive, proportionate and person-centred. It must allow people - whether working-age adults, older individuals or carers - to make informed choices and stay connected to the people and places that matter most to them.

Everyone must feel safe and supported in the place they call home, whether that’s in their family home, care home, supported living or any other setting. All care must be rooted in dignity, compassion and respect.

We know that high-quality care depends on the skills, commitment and wellbeing of those who provide it. It is essential that anyone providing care - friends, family or the care workforce - is recognised, supported and equipped to provide person-centred care.

But it’s not just the people providing care who matter in making this vision a reality - it’s also how local authorities deliver assessments for care and support, and how they work with care providers to commission services and shape their markets, so that people can access care and support earlier and closer to home. People must get the right support, at the right time, in the right place. And, when they do access care and support, services should be joined up, so that people drawing on care and support, and their families and friends, aren’t repeating their story.

This government was elected on a manifesto to achieve this vision - and, together, we will make this a reality. To deliver this, the government’s plan for adult social care is centred on helping people lead independent and fulfilling lives, supported by 3 objectives. These are to:

• improve the quality of care and support
• enable people to have more choice and control over their care and support
• strengthen the join-up between health and social care services

We know that the system is under significant pressure, and the cost of inaction is too high. For too long, adult social care has been left neglected. We cannot afford to stand still - every delay means missed opportunities to improve lives.

That is why we are making available around £4.6 billion in additional funding available for adult social care in 2028 to 2029 compared with 2025 to 2026.

From next year, we will implement major changes to local government funding, simplifying how funding is provided to give local government more flexibility and redistributing funding to where it is needed most. This will reduce complexity so local authorities can concentrate on what matters most: ensuring high-quality care and support is provided.

Another significant step forward next year will be the roll-out of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) refreshed approach to local authority assessments, as it completes and publishes its baseline reports on how local authorities are meeting their statutory duties. This greater transparency, combined with the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) support offer and local authorities’ own improvement activity, marks a more mature and robust system we are embedding to drive up quality.

Alongside these changes, I am setting out 3 priority outcomes, with clear expectations for local authorities to deliver over the coming year, to underpin this government’s 3 objectives:

1. People who draw on care and support, and their carers, experience high-quality adult social care provided by a skilled workforce.
2. People who draw on care and support are supported to promote their independence, where possible, and have choice and control over their support.
3. People who draw on care and support experience joined-up health and social care services at a neighbourhood level.

I will also increase transparency of available funding by, in early 2026, publishing adult social care notional allocations for all local authorities over the next 3 years.

Importantly, our approach is rooted in partnership - building strong relationships and encouraging open conversation with local government that is enabled by greater transparency of our shared vision. This will help us to support local progress towards this vision and understand how far we still have to go nationally.

I know achieving these objectives will not happen overnight. Ahead of the findings of Baroness Casey’s independent commission into adult social care, the expectations and priorities set out in this publication - building upon those that will be set out in the upcoming Local Government Outcomes Framework - represent important steps towards our vision over this Parliament.

Together, we can build the foundations for a national care service - so everyone gets the care and support they deserve.

Stephen Kinnock MP
Minister of State for Care

Introduction

Adult social care is a vital statutory service delivered by local authorities to meet the needs of their communities. We recognise the commitment and resilience shown by local authorities in delivering high-quality care and support, often under challenging circumstances.

As we work towards our ambition of creating a national care service, local authorities will play a pivotal role in shaping its foundations while continuing to deliver the best outcomes for local communities. To support this, this publication sets out:

• national priority outcomes and expectations for local authorities
• the methodology that we will use to calculate adult social care notional allocations for all local authorities over the next 3 years
• how we will understand and support local progress towards achieving these objectives by building strong partnerships and encouraging open conversation

We recognise the importance of clarity and stability for the sector. In recognition of the multi-year settlement, while we will review this publication annually, we do not anticipate significant changes each year.

National priorities and expectations for local authorities

To support progress towards building a national care service and achieving our objectives for adult social care, we have set out 3 priority outcomes as follows:

1. People who draw on care and support, and their carers, experience high-quality adult social care provided by a skilled workforce.
2. People who draw on care and support are supported to promote their independence, where possible, and have choice and control over their support.
3. People who draw on care and support experience joined-up health and social care services at a neighbourhood level.

To bring these outcomes to life, we have outlined practical steps and approaches that local authorities can take. These expectations, detailed in ‘Annex A - list of priority outcomes and expectations for local authorities: 2026 to 2027’, should guide local authority decision-making for service design, strategic planning and resource allocation, and work with local partners.

Importantly, we have aligned these priority outcomes and expectations across existing oversight and assurance frameworks. The 3 priority outcomes will be set out in the upcoming Local Government Outcomes Framework, which will set out a broader suite of national priority outcomes delivered at the local level and driven by councils as local leaders of place.

The priority outcomes and expectations in this publication do not replace or override local authorities’ statutory duties under the Care Act 2014, which remain central to improving independence and wellbeing, nor does this publication represent statutory guidance. CQC assesses how well local authorities across England are performing against the duties set out in part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s updated priorities for CQC’s local authority assessments will be set out shortly, aligned with the government’s objectives for adult social care. This will also be supported by new co-produced rating descriptors to help local authorities deliver good adult social care services.

We recognise that many local authorities are already embedding these expectations into service delivery. Local authorities are best placed to balance national priorities with local needs and circumstances. As such, these expectations are not exhaustive - rather, they are designed to support prioritisation and delivery, and lay the foundations for a national care service.

Local authority notional allocations for adult social care

The Spending Review 2025 allows for around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in the 2028 to 2029 financial year, compared with the 2025 to 2026 financial year. This includes an increase to the NHS’s minimum contribution to adult social care through the Better Care Fund (BCF), which will be reformed from 2026 to 2027 as set out in the 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future.

Previously, local authorities received multiple individual grants, with grant conditions and reporting requirements attached. We are simplifying this from next year by consolidating existing individual grants (including the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund and Social Care Grant) within local authorities’ Fair Funding Allocation (paid through the Revenue Support Grant), giving councils greater discretion over how to use funding to respond to local needs, and removing the need to track spend against separate grants.

To facilitate local authority budget setting and decisions around adult social care spending, we will, for the first time, publish adult social care notional allocations for each local authority early in 2026. Notional allocations will not be formal spend expectations but will instead act as a reference point to support local authorities in budget-setting. ‘Annex B - methodology for calculating local authority notional funding allocations for adult social care’ sets out the methodology that will be used to calculate these notional allocations. As set out in Annex B, notional allocations will provide an illustration of the change in adult social care spending in each local authority assuming adult social care spend broadly reflected wider changes in overall available funding.

We recognise that local authorities will need to manage changes in cost and demand for their adult social care services. We expect that local authorities’ adult social care expenditure over the multi-year settlement will likely need to increase, at least in real terms, across this period. However, we also appreciate that adult social care expenditure at a local authority level will be influenced by many local factors - such as service demand and costs, previous decisions, local priorities and funding context - and may differ from these notional allocations.

Therefore, by using notional allocations as a reference point and not a ringfence, we will be looking to understand how local factors inform local authority spending decisions and wider plans to make progress towards the priority outcomes set out in this publication.

Annex B sets out the methodology to calculate adult social care notional allocations for each local authority for the period covering the financial years 2026 to 2027 through to 2028 to 2029. The figures (due to be published early in the new year) will cover local government spending on adult social care only - they will not include NHS minimum contributions to the BCF, which were published on 17 November 2025. While not included in the local authority notional allocation calculations, the NHS minimum contribution to adult social care through the BCF will also support delivery of adult social care services.

We will publish notional allocation figures early in the new year. We will review these figures annually to reflect new data and any wider changes in local government funding.

Understanding and supporting local and national progress in 2026 to 2027

Working together to build a shared understanding

Achieving the best outcomes for people and local communities requires strong partnership between central and local government. Success is built on trust - not unnecessary reporting - and enabling local authorities to make decisions for their local populations.

This partnership must operate within a shared vision for adult social care. That is why we have set out the long-term objectives we want to achieve together.

To turn this vision into a reality, we want to build a collective understanding of local and national progress against the priority outcomes and expectations set out for adult social care. This will help local authorities to, for example:

• plan with local partners
• identify areas for improvement
• allocate for local resources

Local authorities already monitor and report on their own service delivery and performance to their councillors, local populations and CQC. They employ a range of approaches to using their own data and intelligence in monitoring service delivery and performance. This includes self-assessment and benchmarking of their own performance to:

• inform peer learning
• enable self-improvement
• help drive sector-led improvement

We want to build on these existing local approaches through open and constructive discussions with local authorities about barriers to service transformation and challenges they are facing that are difficult to overcome. We also want to identify opportunities to share best practice across local areas to galvanise progress towards our shared vision.

Using adult social care data

While data cannot tell a complete story, it can act as a starting point for developing a shared picture of delivery of these priorities locally and nationally.

To support this, ‘Annex C - metrics and data for 2026 to 2027’ sets out a core set of outcomes, outputs and activity metrics. These metrics are predominantly drawn from existing frameworks, including the Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework. The metrics will also align to the upcoming Local Government Outcomes Framework, when this is published.

We have selected metrics that are both closely aligned with our expectations for local authorities and their work with local partners, and are published in a timelier manner, to allow for dialogue about adult social care delivery in-year. To aid collective understanding, local authorities may wish to monitor these metrics as part of their existing approaches.

This includes 2 new metrics on adult social care waiting times derived from adult social care client level data (CLD). We intend to publish these as experimental statistics early in the 2026 to 2027 financial year, and local authorities will be able to see their data on the CLD dashboard early in 2026. We will confirm our intention to publish in the quarterly CLD publication before the experimental statistics are released.

We will supplement this set of metrics with:

• information on adult social care spending (drawn from local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2025 to 2026 data)
• changes to annual local authority fee rates
• insights on wider local context from the Local Government Outcomes Framework, once published

We recognise that, while significant progress has been made in recent years to improve adult social care data (including the introduction of CLD), limitations and gaps remain. For example, it remains difficult to measure the impact of local authority preventative services.

We will continue working with local authorities and the sector to improve data quality, timeliness and coverage - including for the publication of novel adult social care waiting times data. We will seek to reflect any developments in annual updates to this publication.

How we will engage with local authorities

Recognising the limitations in available data and its ability to only tell part of a story, it is our intention to engage with local authorities throughout the financial year to:

• gain better insights into local decision-making on budget setting, service delivery and how they are working with local partners to embed this government’s adult social care priorities
• understand local context (for example, demographics, the state of the local care market, relationships with providers and health partners, and the council’s financial situation) and potential barriers to implementation, including those that require national intervention or action
• identify steps taken to meet local challenges, such as how local authorities have made use of, and benefited from, the improvement support offer or ongoing internal transformation programmes

We will prioritise engagement with local authorities where metrics and data indicate a significant variation from the national average (or alternative appropriate measure). This may highlight either notable success in achieving the priorities set out - offering valuable learning opportunities - or significant local challenges in service delivery and embedding priorities, which may require additional support.

Contacts and support available

Support available to local authorities

Local authorities constantly strive to make care and support better. We want to ensure local authorities and their partners have the support they need to do this. DHSC’s funded support offer is delivered by sector partners, including:

• the Local Government Association (LGA)
• the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS)
• the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
• Think Local Act Personal (TLAP)

The support offer can help local authorities make progress on the priorities and drive better outcomes from the resources available to them. This includes universal, targeted and reactive intensive support to local authorities on a range of areas - including to:

• make care more personal
• improve commissioning and market shaping so the right support is available for local people
• develop local partnerships so care is more joined up
• help keep people safe from harm and abuse
• maximise the benefit of digital transformation

Local authorities can access support by talking to their region’s Care and Health Improvement Adviser and read information on support provided by Partners in Care and Health.

Useful contacts

We recognise that the removal of grants for adult social care, alongside the introduction of new accountability arrangements linked to the government’s core priorities and expectations for adult social care delivery, represent a change for local authorities.

If you have any questions about what this means for your local area, you can:

• speak with your regional Care and Health Improvement Adviser
• contact DHSC using the following email address: asc.la.engagement@dhsc.gov.uk