Last Updated on November 3, 2026

Leading voices in adult social care have issued their response to the Autumn Budget and its implications for the sector. Chancellor John Healey's Budget contained relatively few direct references to adult social care, with much of the emphasis placed on future reform rather than immediate investment.

A key announcement was confirmation that Government intends to alter the State Pension Triple Lock from the next Parliament as part of its strategy to fund both free personal care and the proposed National Care Service in England.

The Budget also included measures aimed at supporting unpaid carers. Ministers confirmed that a taper will be introduced in 2030/31 to replace the current 'cliff-edge' withdrawal of Carer's Allowance, allowing carers to increase their earnings without immediately losing benefit entitlement.

However, sector leaders warned that more immediate challenges remain unresolved. The Budget confirmed that the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over will rise from £12.71 to £13.21 an hour from April 2027, increasing employment costs across the care sector. Lastly, sector leaders also highlighted the absence of additional dedicated funding for local authority social care budgets.

Commenting on the announcements made in the Autumn Budget 2026, Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), said, 'Extra funding to tackle rough sleeping and for social housing is positive. However, no overall funding increase for local government means councils will continue to struggle to meet demand and provide services to our communities.

'Government recognises that councils are central to achieving good growth and rewiring the state. These ambitions cannot be achieved if council finances remain fragile and reliant on emergency bailout agreements.

'The full value of local government will only be unleashed if both local and strategic authorities are empowered and financially sustainable. Plans for real fiscal devolution must ensure investment decisions can better meet local needs.

'We need a new deal for local government. Genuine devolution must go beyond mayors and strategic authorities to empower councils themselves. Local authorities know their communities best, and only with adequate funding, meaningful powers and a review of statutory obligations can they have the freedom to focus on local priorities and deliver for their residents.'

Nadra Ahmed CBE, Executive Co-Chair of National Care Association (NCA), said, 'All the indications in the run-up to the Budget suggested that social care would once again go unrecognised. The Prime Minister's bold words on arriving at Downing Street now feel hollow, echoing the promises of his predecessors.

'Thus far, this Labour Government has made employment more expensive for businesses, despite the fact that our workforce is our greatest asset. There was an opportunity to reduce employers' National Insurance contributions and VAT for our sector, giving providers some much-needed "breathing space", as has been offered to other employers. There must be greater recognition of the fact that social care contributes more than £75bn to the economy.

'We welcome the strong message of support for unpaid carers, whose contribution saves the country substantial additional care costs. This recognition is, of course, welcome from a budgetary perspective. However, the limited approach of waiting for reform before making any strategic commitment to stabilising social care condemns our sector to another lengthy period of invisibility.'

Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive at the Homecare Association, said, 'Measures to make life fairer for unpaid carers and help working people with the cost of living are welcome. But if Government is serious about improving health and care, it cannot overlook the essential role of homecare.

'We welcome Government's commitment to personal care free at the point of use, which would benefit many of the older and disabled people our members support at home. However, it is to be funded from savings on a Triple Lock adjustment that does not begin until April 2030, and the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will not now report until 2027. Free personal care can only succeed if it is built on a stable homecare market that is paid the true cost of the care it delivers.

'Our members support almost 1.5 million older and disabled people, helping them live independently at home, supporting families to remain in work and enabling people to leave hospital when they are ready. Yet the funding available for publicly commissioned homecare continues to fall short of the cost of sustainable care. The Budget provides £190m for NHS winter pressures, but no equivalent support for the homecare services that help people leave hospital safely.

'Our latest research estimates that England needs an additional £2.3bn across councils and the NHS to enable homecare workers to receive at least the statutory minimum wage while ensuring that services are financially sustainable.

'61% of homecare contracts in England pay less than £26.17 per hour, the amount needed to cover the direct employment costs of a care worker paid at the statutory minimum wage, before other operating costs. Our Minimum Price for Homecare, which also covers those operating costs, is £34.42 per hour. Government's announced 3.9% increase in the National Living Wage, to £13.21 an hour from April 2027, will add further pressure unless the Government funds councils and the NHS to raise fee rates in line with rising employment costs, and commissioners pass that funding on in full.

'Without action to address this funding gap, the sector will struggle to deliver the quality, capacity and workforce stability that people and communities need. The sector cannot wait for long-term reform: homecare needs sustainable funding now.

'We welcome Government's commitment to ending the punitive Carer's Allowance earnings cliff edge. Unpaid carers should not be penalised for increasing their hours or earning a little more. However, with the reform not due to take effect until 2030-31, carers will continue to face the existing rules for several more years.

'Government's decision to make the 55p tax-free mileage rate permanent, and to increase the rate for higher-mileage drivers from April 2027, is welcome. We are pleased that the Budget specifically recognises care workers among those who will benefit.

However, tax-free mileage rates do not require employers to reimburse care workers at those levels, nor do they provide additional funding for publicly commissioned homecare. Where care workers use their own vehicles to travel between visits, the costs of that travel must be recognised in commissioning arrangements. Members cannot sustainably absorb rising costs through contracts that already fail to cover the cost of delivering care.

'Ultimately, we need a Budget and wider funding settlement that recognise care as an investment, not simply a cost. Without sustainable funding for homecare, ambitions for prevention, neighbourhood health and a more productive NHS will be much harder to achieve.

'We urge Government to make funding for social care a priority at next year's spending review, ensure that public contracts reflect the true cost of care, and fully fund the employment reforms needed to improve pay and conditions for care workers.'

To read the Autumn Budget 2026 in full, visit GOV.UK.

In other news, awarding organisation and education charity NCFE has established the Health and Social Care Skills Collective to tackle workforce challenges.