This Briefing is based on Policy Paper – Adult Social Care Priorities for Local Authorities: 2026 to 2027 (Department of Health and Social Care), which sets out the government’s:
The publication will be reviewed annually.
The priority outcomes and expectations in the policy paper do not replace or override local authorities’ statutory duties under the Care Act 2014, and it is not statutory guidance.
The policy paper sets out the government’s three priority outcomes:
To bring these outcomes to life, the paper outlines 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.
The three priority outcomes will be set out in the upcoming Local Government Outcomes Framework, which will set out a broader suite of national priority outcomes to be delivered at the local level and driven by councils as local leaders.
The expectations are not exhaustive – rather, they are designed to support prioritisation and delivery and lay the foundations for a national care service.
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. The government is simplifying this from 2026 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). This gives councils greater discretion over how to use funding to respond to local needs, and removes the need to track spend against separate grants.
To support local authority budget setting and decisions around adult social care spending, the government 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. They will provide an illustration of the change in adult social care spending in each local authority, assuming adult social care spend broadly reflects wider changes in overall available funding.
The paper sets out that the government recognises that local authorities will need to manage changes in cost and demand for their adult social care services and expects 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. It recognises 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.
By using notional allocations as a reference point and not a ringfence, the government 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 the policy paper.
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 2026) 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.
The government will publish notional allocation figures early in 2026. It will review these figures annually to reflect new data and any wider changes in local government funding.
The paper sets out that achieving the best outcomes for people and local communities requires strong partnership between central and local government.
This partnership must operate within a shared vision for adult social care. That is why the government have set out the long-term objectives they want to achieve.
To turn this vision into a reality, the government wants 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:
Local authorities already monitor and report on their own service delivery and performance to their councillors, local people and the CQC. A range of approaches are used to monitor service delivery and performance, including self-assessment and benchmarking of their own performance to:
The policy paper sets out that the government wants 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. The government also wants to identify opportunities to share best practice across local areas to galvanise progress towards their shared vision.
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.
The government have selected metrics that are both closely aligned with government 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 two new metrics on adult social care waiting times derived from adult social care client level data (CLD). The government intends 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. The government will confirm its intention to publish in the quarterly CLD publication before the experimental statistics are released.
The government will supplement this set of metrics with:
The government recognises 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.
The government will continue working with local authorities and the sector to improve data quality, timeliness and coverage – including for the publication of adult social care waiting times data.
Recognising the limitations in available data and its ability to only tell part of a story, the government intends to engage with local authorities throughout the financial year to:
The government 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.
