Social care · Cost and funding · England · 2018–19 to 2024–25
What does adult social care cost, and who pays?
Councils in England spent £29.4bn gross on adult social care in 2024–25, 80% of it on long-term care. Around £4.7bn came back from people paying towards their own care and £4.4bn from the NHS. People who arrange care privately pay on top, and are not counted.
Evidence last reviewed 3 October 2026
Council spending over time
How much do councils spend on adult social care?
Council spending on adult social care reached £27.0bn in 2025–26, in cash terms
Net current expenditure on adult social care by councils with social care responsibilities, England, 2018–19 to 2025–26, £ billion, cash (not adjusted for inflation).
England · 2018–19 to 2025–26 · Accredited official statistics
Sources, definitions and data — Council spending on adult social care reached £27.0bn in 2025–26, in cash terms
- Geography:
- England — Upper-tier and unitary councils (shire districts excluded)
- Measure:
- £ billion, cash
- Period:
- 2018–19 to 2025–26
- Status:
- Accredited official statistics
- Calculation:
- Summed across authorities from the MHCLG per-authority outturn file; £000s divided by 1,000,000.
- Compare with:
- 2018–19: £16.1bn
- Not included / breaks:
- Cash figures include inflation and National Living Wage rises, so growth is not a measure of extra care delivered. Net of income from the NHS and from people who pay towards their care. DHSC’s finance report, a different collection, gives £24.7bn net current expenditure for the same year.
Source: MHCLG, Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: revenue outturn multi-year data set, RO3 adult social care net current expenditure. Chart CARE-06.
View the data as a table
| Year | Net current expenditure |
|---|---|
| 2018–19 | £16.07bn |
| 2019–20 | £16.89bn |
| 2020–21 | £18.70bn |
| 2021–22 | £18.96bn |
| 2022–23 | £20.50bn |
| 2023–24 | £23.48bn |
| 2024–25 | £25.15bn |
| 2025–26 | £26.95bn |
Who pays
Where does the money for council-arranged care come from?
Of £34.5bn spent, councils funded about £24.7bn net; charges and the NHS supplied most of the rest
Council adult social care expenditure and main income sources, England, 2024–25, £ billion, cash.
England · 2024–25 · Official statistics
Sources, definitions and data — Of £34.5bn spent, councils funded about £24.7bn net; charges and the NHS supplied most of the rest
- Geography:
- England — Councils with adult social services responsibilities
- Measure:
- £ billion, cash
- Period:
- 2024–25
- Status:
- Official statistics
- Calculation:
- As published in the finance report’s Figure 1. Net current expenditure also excludes smaller joint-arrangement and other income and capital charges, so the bars do not subtract exactly.
- Compare with:
- Planned NHS Better Care Fund spend: £3.06bn, reported separately
- Not included / breaks:
- Excludes care arranged and paid for privately by self-funders, and the value of unpaid care. Not comparable line-for-line with council activity counts, DHSC says.
Source: DHSC, Adult social care finance report, England: 2024 to 2025, Main points and Figure 1 (released 23 October 2025). Chart CARE-07.
View the data as a table
| Item | £ billion |
|---|---|
| Total expenditure | 34.55 |
| Income: people’s contributions | 4.68 |
| Income: NHS | 4.39 |
| Net current expenditure | 24.72 |
What a unit of care costs
In 2024–25 councils paid on average £23.56 for an hour of home care bought from an external provider and £1185.55 for a week of residential or nursing care, both up about 7% on the year in cash terms. Care is labour-intensive, so National Living Wage rises affect what providers pay staff and what they charge councils. What self-funders pay for the same care is not measured in these statistics.
Reading cash growth. Spending figures here are not adjusted for inflation. A rise in cash spending can buy the same, more or less care depending on wage and price growth; the activity figures on the access page show what was delivered. Two official collections measure council spending slightly differently: MHCLG’s revenue outturn gives £27.0bn net for 2025–26, DHSC’s finance report £24.7bn.
Who decides. Councils set budgets and fee rates but depend on government grants, council tax (including the adult social care precept) and business rates. The means test, the Better Care Fund and any cap on care costs are set nationally. Reform options are compared on the Social care page; how social care competes with other council and national spending is on public finances.
Sources and methods (2)
- DHSC, Adult social care finance report, England: 2024 to 2025, Main points and Figure 1 (released 23 October 2025) — gross and net spending, income, unit costs and Better Care Fund
- MHCLG, Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: revenue outturn multi-year data set, RO3 adult social care net current expenditure — council net spending time series
Method notes
- All figures are cash (current prices), England, financial years.
- Gross current expenditure = net current expenditure plus people’s contributions; gross current public expenditure = net current expenditure plus NHS income (DHSC definitions).
- Unit costs are averages across councils for externally provided care and hide wide local variation.