How much Northamptonshire councils spent on adult social care last year – and why more is needed

Councils spent more than £300 million on providing adult social care in Northamptonshire last year, new figures show.

In his autumn statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a further £4.7 billion for adult social care up to 2024-25 and gave authorities the green light to add two percent onto next year’s council tax bills, aimed at aiding hospital discharge rates and freeing up beds and providing local authorities with more money for services. But health think tank Nuffield Trust said budgets are being stretched by inflation and the system needs long-term funding to address workforce and capacity shortages.

NHS Digital figures show West Northamptonshire’s total expenditure on adult social care was £173.8 million and North Northamptonshire wass £138.8 million in 2021-22.

In West Northamptonshire, £23.1 million of the total was spent on council-run services, £150.7 million on external businesses offering adult social care and a further £13,000 on grants to local charities to provide support. The majority of the funding — 79 percent — went towards providing long-term care.

In the North, £8.6 million was spent on council-run services and £130.2 million on external businesses. Most of the funding, 85 percent, went towards providing long-term care.

Offsetting various income and funding streams, gross spending on adult social care sat at £146.4 million in West Northamptonshire’s and £127.7 million in North Northamptonshire. Gross expenditure is used by the NHS to monitor how much adult social care costs local authorities.

Across England, gross spending on adult social care services rose for the sixth successive year, reaching £22 billion – the highest point in real and cash terms since records began in 2005-06.

But despite the continued rise in investment, as well as Mr Hunt's added funding announced in the autumn statement, the Nuffield Trust says money available to deal with the increasing demand on adult social care services falls short of the required standard given the inflationary pressures local councils and providers face.

Natasha Curry, the think tank’s deputy director of policy, said: “While spending on adult social care has risen for six years in a row, it followed steep cuts between 2010 and 2015 and has only just recovered in real terms. Extra funding announced last week will only keep pace with inflationary pressures.”

Ms Curry said increasing demand due to an ageing population and a growing number of working-age disabled adults and people living with long-term conditions is also adding to the stresses on the industry.

Across England, almost two million new requests for care support were made last year – up from 1.9 million last year. Of them, 9,290 were made in West Northamptonshire and 8,325 in North Northants.

Ms Curry added: “The system needs long-term funding with a focus on addressing serious workforce shortages and limited capacity if we are to see tangible change in the quantity and quality of care available.”

The Department for Health and Social Care said it “prioritised health and social care in the autumn statement” with up to £7.5 billion in investment made available in the next two years. A spokesperson added that the Government is investing £15 million in international recruitment and is running its annual domestic recruitment campaign to address workforce shortages.