ADASS Spring Survey 2025: Why adult social care faces its toughest test yet

This briefing note provides a detailed review of the main themes, key findings, and most important ideas presented in the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) Spring Survey 2025, highlighting the critical challenges and potential opportunities within the English adult social care sector.

The ADASS Spring Survey 2025 offers a sobering assessment of adult social care in England. Despite government ambitions for integrated, preventative care, the reality is stark: record overspends, increasing demand, and mounting NHS pressures threaten the sector’s stability.

This deep dive covers the eight key findings from the report and explores what they mean for councils, care providers, unpaid carers, and the wider system.

1. Financial pressures reach record highs

The survey reports an unprecedented £774 million overspend in 2024/25, the highest in a decade and the third consecutive year of overspending. Planned savings for 2025/26 stand at £932 million, the largest since 2016/17.

Despite these measures, confidence remains low:

• Only 24% of Directors are confident their budgets will meet older people’s needs.
• For working-age adults, this drops to 21%.

To cover overspends, 69% of Directors used underspends from other departments, and 66% dipped into reserves, a strategy CIPFA warns is unsustainable.

2. Rising demand and complex care needs

Requests for adult social care support surpassed 2 million in 2024/25, equivalent to 5,700 per day. The complexity of care is growing:

• Home care hours per person rose to 14 hours 23 minutes weekly, up from 13:40 in 2021/22.
• 63% of councils report larger care packages for hospital discharges.

Social issues amplify demand, with 73% of councils reporting increased mental health referrals and 60% citing more rough sleeping cases.

3. NHS pressures shift unfunded responsibilities to social care

The shift from NHS to adult social care continues without associated funding or resources:

• 94% of Directors agree NHS pressures are forcing social care to take on previously NHS-led tasks.
• 74% report increased delegated healthcare tasks for social care staff, but only 26% are satisfied with the support provided.

Funding gaps are evident: only 9% believe Funded Nursing Care rates cover true costs. Tightened NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) eligibility has driven more people into council-funded care, increasing overspends.

4. A fragile care market

The care market faces severe instability:

• 56% of Directors reported provider closures, contract handbacks, or cessation of trading in the last six months, affecting over 4,000 people.
• Council home care rates average £23.85/hour, well below the Homecare Association’s minimum sustainable rate of £32.14/hour.

5. Prevention Spending falls to its lowest level

Despite widespread recognition of its importance, spending on prevention and wellbeing is at its lowest since 2021/22, just 5.6% of ASC budgets. This decline undermines ambitions to shift from crisis response to prevention and digital care.

6. Unpaid carers under severe strain

Unpaid carers remain the invisible backbone of social care, but the strain is escalating:

• 76% of Directors report more carers seeking help.
• 91% cite lack of healthcare support as a major factor in carer breakdown.

Directors strongly support policy changes, including:

• Paid leave for carers (98%).
• Expanded Carer’s Allowance eligibility (96%).
• A fully funded national carers strategy.

7. Opportunities in co-production and technology

There is optimism about co-production and technology:

• 32% of councils now have fully resourced co-production plans, up from 20% in 2024.
• 89% of Directors rank additional funding for tech-enabled care as the most beneficial investment.

However, barriers persist:

• Confidence in AI, predictive analytics, and system interoperability remains low (32%, 19%, and 26% respectively).
• Digital skills gaps among staff and service users hinder progress.

8. Waiting times improve, but backlogs remain

There is some progress:

• People awaiting assessment, care, or review fell by 10.9%, from 418,029 to 372,113.
• Those waiting more than six months for an assessment dropped by 28.5%.

These figures still represent a significant backlog, and councils warn that comparisons should be made cautiously due to data changes.

What needs to change?

The ADASS Spring Survey makes it clear: current funding levels cannot support government ambitions for prevention, digitalisation, and integrated care. Without urgent action, local authorities risk being locked in crisis management rather than enabling independence and wellbeing.

Key recommendations include:

• A fully funded workforce plan and Fair Pay Agreement.
• A new deal for unpaid carers with financial and wellbeing support.
• Neighbourhood-level integration between health and care.
• Investment in digital care to improve efficiency and outcomes.

Conclusion

The survey calls for urgent, strategic reform: fair pay for the workforce, real investment in prevention and tech, and a strong partnership with the NHS. Without this, ambitions for integrated, person-centred care will remain out of reach.

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