On 26 November, The Chancellor delivered the Budget in her Autumn Statement to the Commons.
We welcome the Budget’s investment in the NHS to reduce waiting lists and develop 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres; this will greatly improve people’s access to much needed health care.
However, the Budget contains no new funding for social care, which is vital to support people to live the best lives they can, and in a community they know.
Without this support, the NHS simply cannot function effectively and efficiently.
The country needs, and deserves, a social care system that is funded to meet demand, staffed to deliver high-quality support, and one which works in true partnership with the NHS.
Hospitals cannot discharge effectively when community capacity is lacking. Primary care cannot operate efficiently when individuals do not have the support they need to live in their own homes or in a supported environment.
Only with a functioning, properly funded social care sector can the NHS deliver on the promises made in this Budget.
Provider feedback
Prior to the Autumn Budget 2025, the Care Provider Alliance surveyed 236 adult social care and support providers, whose services support around 210,000 people across residential care. The message was clear: the 2024 Autumn Budget increased financial pressure, weakened workforce stability and restricted future investment.
This budget does little to improve this situation for providers, and we are yet to fully bottom out what measures, such as the rises in minimum wage – whilst hugely welcome for care workers – will mean for providers. Without corresponding rises to fees from local authorities, which are not guaranteed by this budget, this measure will increase costs for an already fragile sector.
“Whilst we welcome some of the measures in the Budget for the NHS and neighbourhood health, we are disappointed that there was no additional funding in the budget for social care. Social care acts as the glue which binds many people together and supports them to live a good life, and this budget is a missed opportunity to invest in good social care which so many depend on.”
Ewan King, Chair of Care Provider Alliance
Other key findings from our survey include:
Financial pressure forced providers to cut investment and reduce activity:
- 80 per cent cut investment in innovation, digital transformation or decarbonisation
- 70 per cent increased fees for self-funders to cover rising costs
- More than 60 per cent reduced staffing or cut back training and development
Operating margins declined sharply:
- 70 per cent reported a fall of more than two percentage points
- 44 per cent reported a fall of more than five percentage points
Workforce terms and conditions stalled despite employer’s desires to improve them:
- 78 per cent could not increase staff pay to the level they needed
- 67 per cent faced greater recruitment and retention challenges
- 61 per cent saw pay differentials erode
- 30 per cent stepped back from paying the Real Living Wage
- 23 per cent made redundancies
- 21 per cent reduced staff hours and increased reliance on bank staff
Providers expect challenges ahead in 2026:
- 75 per cent expect to raise self-funded fees
- 66 per cent expect to rely on reserves to stay operational
- Close to 70 per cent expect to refuse new publicly-funded care packages
- Almost 50 per cent expect to hand back existing packages
- 20 per cent expect to shorten visits or reduce service levels
- Up to 25 per cent expect service closures
Access the summary report of the Care Provider Alliance survey here.
Find an impartial summary covering the Chancellor’s policy announcements, changes to taxes and spending, and forecasts for the public finances and economy, and other Budget 2025 data, research and analysis in The House of Commons Library here.
– Ends –
Notes to Editors
- The government is still to decide what types of roles will be covered by the Social Care Fair Pay Agreement and what pay and conditions it will relate to.
- Skills for Care estimate there are 1.27 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) roles in Adult Social care in England. If it is assumed each works 37 hours per week, it can be estimated that they are paid (including holiday time) for 2.44 billion hours of work each year (1.27 million x 37 hours per week x 52 weeks per year). On this basis, it can be estimated that increasing the hourly wage of all these roles by £1 would cost £2.44 billion. Two-thirds of care is funded by local government and the NHS.
About the Care Provider Alliance (CPA)
The Care Provider Alliance is a coalition of 10 associations. We advocate for the sector and ensure a coordinated response to the major issues that affect it.
We represent private, voluntary and community sector care providers in England. Some members also represent services in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland. The Care Provider Alliance speaks for the whole of the adult social care sector, including care homes; home care services; housing with care; integrated retirement communities; shared lives schemes; services for people with learning disabilities and autism; mental health and community-based support. Members support children, adults of working age and older people. Local authorities, health bodies or private individuals purchase care from providers.
We reach over 95% of all care and support provider organisations, in a sector with 1.6 million employees helping people to live good-quality, independent lives. The scale of our sector’s work is vast, affecting the lives of over 10 million adults at any given time, including people using formal and informal care, care workers, and unpaid carers.
The Care Provider Alliance is an informal body. The role of CPA chair rotates annually across each of the ten associations in line with our terms of reference.
For more information on the Care Provider Alliance visit the website https://www.careprovideralliance.org.uk/
Contact:info@careprovideralliance.org.uk
