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Chancellor Rachel Reeves, in a major speech in parliament, announced billions of pounds of cuts to what she called unfunded plans previously set out by the previous government – including scrapping care reforms.
She said this would save £1bn by the end of next year.
The previous plans, which had already been pushed back by the Conservatives, included capping costs for service users, a more generous means test and a fairer cost for providers.
Councils mostly reported they were not ready for the reforms, and that rising costs meant they were too expensive to not be funded by central government.
CIPFA social care policy advisor Dr William Burns said: “Yesterday, the chancellor scrapped the adult social care charging reforms. CIPFA will always support decisions which lead to better management of public finances and create greater efficiency for local authorities.”
He referred to a CIPFA report from December 2023, which found “the proposed charging reforms were flawed, underfunded and would impose significant costs on local authorities”.
They were due to come into effect in October 2025, and in the report CIPFA advocated for delaying them again.
“While it is important to make the payment system for adult social care fairer, urgent challenges must be addressed first,” said Burns.
“Issues include supporting local authorities to manage rising demand for services, and ensuring local authorities receive adequate, long-term settlements to plug the social care funding gap. Current system challenges need to be dealt with head on or we risk building a reformed social care system on weak foundations.”
A County Councils Network survey published earlier this month found nine in 10 councils were “not well prepared” for the reforms, and accompanying analysis found that the cap and extended means test would now cost 34% more over nine years than when announced.
Responding to Reeves’ announcement, CCN adult social care spokesperson Cllr Martin Tett said: “Councils have supported the principle of the adult social care charging reforms, but we have always said that they must be fully funded by the government of the day.”
He added: “With no funding committed to the reforms and with councils still facing acute workforce and system pressures, introducing these changes in October 2025 could have had some catastrophic consequences for council finances, health and care systems and individuals who currently receive services.
“Now, the government must prioritise addressing these current pressures at the forthcoming Spending Review.”
Reeves claimed adult social care was “neglected by the previous government”.
“The sector needs reform to improve care and to support staff,” she told MPs.
“In the previous parliament, the government made costly commitments to introduce adult social care charging reforms.
“But then, they pushed them back repeatedly, including just two years ago, because they knew that local authorities were not ready and that their promises were not funded.”
