Local Authority Better Care Grant Determination 2025 to 2026
Published 14 May 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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Local Authority Better Care Grant (Revenue) Grant Determination (2025-26) 31/7800
The Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution (“the Minister of State”), in exercise of the powers conferred by section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, makes the following determination:
Citation
1. This determination may be cited as the Local Authority Better Care Grant (Revenue) Grant Determination (2025-26): 31/7800.
Purpose of the grant
2. The purpose of the grant is to provide support to local authorities in England towards expenditure lawfully incurred or to be incurred by them.
Determination
3. The Minister of State determines the authorities to which the grant is to be paid and the amount of grant to be paid as set out in Annex A of this determination.
4. The grant will be paid in monthly instalments.
Grant conditions
5. Pursuant to section 31(4) of the Local Government Act 2003, the Minister of State determines that the grant will be paid subject to the conditions in Annex B.
Treasury consent
6. Before making this determination in relation to local authorities in England, the Minister of State obtained the consent of the Treasury.
Signed by authority of the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution
Suzanne Kochanowski, Deputy Director, Care, Reform and Grants
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
May 2025
Annex A: Local Authority Better Care Grant allocations to local authorities 2025-26
Authorities to which grant is to be paid:
| Local Authority* | Local Authority Better Care Grant 2025-26 |
|---|---|
| Barking And Dagenham | £13,208,845 |
| Barnet | £11,869,721 |
| Barnsley | £16,593,508 |
| Bath And North East Somerset | £6,048,668 |
| Bedford | £4,200,391 |
| Bexley | £8,162,090 |
| Birmingham | £83,788,421 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | £10,299,963 |
| Blackpool | £13,416,486 |
| Bolton | £18,350,955 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £16,578,901 |
| Bracknell Forest | £1,881,185 |
| Bradford | £28,853,301 |
| Brent | £16,462,867 |
| Brighton And Hove | £11,669,360 |
| Bristol | £20,991,682 |
| Bromley | £9,536,854 |
| Bury | £9,410,943 |
| Buckinghamshire | £6,218,686 |
| Calderdale | £10,407,683 |
| Camden | £15,882,256 |
| Central Bedfordshire | £3,432,402 |
| Cheshire East | £10,740,119 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | £13,354,408 |
| City of London | £399,287 |
| Cornwall | £30,047,566 |
| Coventry | £19,476,258 |
| Croydon | £12,309,639 |
| Darlington | £5,536,853 |
| Derby | £14,859,501 |
| Doncaster | £20,121,535 |
| Dorset | £15,359,816 |
| Dudley | £20,513,001 |
| Durham | £38,079,331 |
| Ealing | £15,642,271 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | £14,336,626 |
| Enfield | £14,465,962 |
| Gateshead | £14,047,284 |
| Greenwich | £19,040,576 |
| Hackney | £20,524,155 |
| Halton | *** |
| Hammersmith And Fulham | £12,370,241 |
| Haringey | £12,097,802 |
| Harrow | £8,220,566 |
| Hartlepool | £6,610,259 |
| Havering | £8,419,703 |
| Herefordshire | £8,367,748 |
| Hillingdon | £9,212,761 |
| Hounslow | £10,084,273 |
| Isle of Wight | £7,624,182 |
| Isles of Scilly | £100,531 |
| Islington | £17,889,241 |
| Kensington And Chelsea | £9,452,257 |
| Kingston upon Hull | £22,107,781 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £2,269,755 |
| Kirklees | £21,986,072 |
| Knowsley | *** |
| Lambeth | £18,438,851 |
| Leeds | £39,033,964 |
| Leicester | £21,658,791 |
| Lewisham | £18,433,042 |
| Liverpool | *** |
| Luton | £9,228,934 |
| Manchester | £39,167,984 |
| Medway | £9,015,012 |
| Merton | £6,180,261 |
| Middlesbrough | £10,666,099 |
| Milton Keynes | £7,619,294 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £20,816,232 |
| Newham | £21,209,860 |
| North East Lincolnshire | £9,941,576 |
| North Lincolnshire | £8,928,935 |
| North Northamptonshire | £14,216,044 |
| North Somerset | £8,618,198 |
| North Tyneside | £11,816,669 |
| Northumberland | £15,415,560 |
| Nottingham | £20,482,287 |
| Oldham | £13,801,769 |
| Peterborough | £9,227,636 |
| Plymouth | £15,955,053 |
| Portsmouth | £10,629,853 |
| Reading | £3,321,794 |
| Redbridge | £12,437,006 |
| Redcar And Cleveland | £8,546,817 |
| Richmond upon Thames | £957,855 |
| Rochdale | £15,146,903 |
| Rotherham | £17,864,126 |
| Rutland | £269,948 |
| Salford | £17,378,954 |
| Sandwell | £28,400,710 |
| Sefton | *** |
| Sheffield | £36,133,777 |
| Shropshire | £14,635,454 |
| Slough | £4,921,597 |
| Solihull | £7,953,413 |
| South Gloucestershire | £5,715,118 |
| South Tyneside | £12,935,004 |
| Southampton | £13,206,113 |
| Southend-on-Sea | £9,619,493 |
| Southwark | £22,017,633 |
| St. Helens | *** |
| Stockport | £11,980,460 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £8,847,725 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £18,995,656 |
| Sunderland | £23,049,520 |
| Sutton | £5,017,371 |
| Swindon | £6,656,221 |
| Tameside | £15,525,894 |
| Telford And Wrekin | £9,651,647 |
| Thurrock | £6,870,843 |
| Torbay | £10,902,595 |
| Tower Hamlets | £20,738,289 |
| Trafford | £10,146,165 |
| Wakefield | £21,493,482 |
| Walsall | £17,494,592 |
| Waltham Forest | £11,703,015 |
| Wandsworth | £20,954,056 |
| Warrington | £7,662,183 |
| West Berkshire | £994,949 |
| Westminster | £21,772,954 |
| Wigan | £20,680,053 |
| Wiltshire | £12,635,308 |
| Windsor And Maidenhead | £2,783,624 |
| Wirral | *** |
| Wokingham | £582,082 |
| Wolverhampton | £18,210,314 |
| York | £6,623,293 |
| West Northamptonshire | £12,421,804 |
| Cumberland | £18,031,737 |
| Westmorland and Furness | £11,477,813 |
| North Yorkshire | £21,377,481 |
| Somerset | £28,833,950 |
| Cambridgeshire | £18,716,293 |
| Derbyshire | £44,082,098 |
| Devon | £35,932,731 |
| East Sussex | £26,865,023 |
| Essex | £57,218,051 |
| Gloucestershire | £24,703,722 |
| Hampshire | £38,588,303 |
| Hertfordshire | £29,058,952 |
| Kent | £61,701,293 |
| Lancashire | £67,786,094 |
| Leicestershire | £21,824,275 |
| Lincolnshire | £42,261,258 |
| Norfolk | £48,875,999 |
| Nottinghamshire | £38,145,311 |
| Oxfordshire | £13,206,730 |
| Staffordshire | £40,352,013 |
| Suffolk | £35,785,577 |
| Surrey | £14,074,074 |
| Warwickshire | £18,669,385 |
| West Sussex | £25,429,106 |
| Worcestershire | £23,469,793 |
| England | £2,515,757,304 |
Allocations may not sum to exact totals due to rounding.
*Funding paid to local authorities with responsibility for adult social care only
*** Liverpool City Region councils agreed to forego Local Authority Better Care Grant in return for an increased share of business rates as part of BRR ‘pilots’. It was agreed that this arrangement would continue for 2025/26.
Annex B – Grant conditions
1. In this Annex:
a. “a recipient authority” means a local authority listed in Annex A to this determination
b. “the Department” means the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
c. “the Minister” means the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution
Use of grant
2. Grant paid to a recipient authority under this determination may be used only for the purposes of;
a. meeting adult social care needs;
b. supporting people to be discharged from hospital when they are ready (including supporting the principles of ‘Discharge to Assess’);
c. ensuring that the social care provider market is supported.
3. A recipient authority must:
a. pool the grant funding into the local Better Care Fund, unless the authority has written Ministerial exemption;
b. working with the relevant Integrated Care Board, meet the objectives and National Conditions set out in the 2025 to 2026 Better Care Fund Policy Framework and Planning Requirements;
c. plan and report on spend as required, through the Better Care Fund planning and reporting process, as set out in the 2025 to 2026 BCF Policy Framework and Planning Requirements.
Financial management
4. A recipient authority must maintain a sound system of internal financial controls.
5. If a recipient authority has any grounds for suspecting financial irregularity in the use of any grant paid under this funding agreement, it must notify the Department immediately, explain what steps are being taken to investigate the suspicion and keep the Department informed about the progress of the investigation. For these purposes “financial irregularity” includes fraud or other impropriety, mismanagement, and the use of grant for purposes other than those for which it was provided.
Breach of Conditions and Recovery of Grant
6. If a recipient authority fails to comply with any of these conditions, or if any overpayment is made under this grant or any amount is paid in error, the Minister may reduce, suspend or withhold grant payments or require the repayment of the whole or any part of the grant monies paid, as may be determined by the Minister and notified in writing to the authority.
7. Such sum as has been notified will immediately become repayable to the Minister who may set off the sum against any future amount due to the authority from central government.