Financial Crisis

The financial situation facing Directors of Adult Social Care is as bad as it has been in recent history. Adult social care budgets for 2023/24 were overspent by £586 million, the highest levels for at least a decade.

The £903mn savings required for 2024/25 are at their highest levels since 2016/17 and there is an increasing reliance on one-off reserves to prop up budgets. This challenging financial situation, coupled with the increasing complexity of need, means that Directors’ confidence in delivering on their legal duties is faltering and 90% of Directors indicated that they are either partially confident or have no confidence that their budgets will be sufficient to fully meet their statutory duties in the year ahead.

Source: Association of Directors of Adult Social Care