Adult Social Care Priorities
On 21 January 2026, the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) published its policy paper Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 - 2027, setting out a roadmap towards a national care service.
The government acknowledges that the current system is under significant pressure and that inaction has consequences for the lives of people who draw on care, their families and the workforce.
The paper therefore promises to invest around £4.6 billion of additional funding for adult social care by 2028‑29 compared with 2025‑26.
For organisations like HomeCareDirect, which specialise in personalised, PHB-funded care packages, the priorities offer insight into where policy is heading and how local authorities will be expected to transform commissioning, quality assurance and integration.

Vision for a national care service

The policy paper makes it clear that the government’s ambition is to establish a national care service so that everyone, regardless of age, disability or where they live, can lead healthy, independent and fulfilling lives.
A national service must ensure that care is responsive, proportionate, and person-centred, allowing people to make informed choices and stay connected to the people and places that matter to them.
Importantly, the ministerial foreword recognises that high-quality care depends on the skills and well-being of those who provide it and that local authorities play a pivotal role in delivering assessments and commissioning services.

Three objectives and priority outcomes

To turn this vision into reality, the paper sets out three objectives:

Improve the quality of care and support.
This means ensuring that people receive high-quality services from a skilled, valued workforce.
The DHSC will publish a Local Government Outcomes Framework that includes priority outcomes for local authorities, such as ensuring that people and their carers experience high-quality care provided by a skilled workforce.
Enable people to have more choice and control.
The government recognises that too often people have limited options and little control over how and where they receive support.
The paper calls on councils to commission services that promote independence and give people genuine control over their care.
Strengthen the join-up between health and social care services. Neighbourhood‑level integration is essential so that individuals do not fall through gaps or have to repeat their stories to multiple professionals.
The priority outcomes call for people to experience seamless health and social care.

These objectives reflect themes that HomeCareDirect has long championed: quality, autonomy, and integrated support.
The paper notes that these outcomes should not replace local authorities’ statutory duties under the Care Act 2014, but should instead guide service design, strategic planning, and partnership working.
An annexe to the paper sets out practical steps councils can take, and invites providers and service users to hold them accountable.

Recognising pressure and pledging new funding

The DHSC acknowledges that the adult social care system is under severe pressure, citing years of neglect and rising demand.
To address this, the government pledges around £4.6 billion in additional funding for 2028-2029 compared with 2025-26.
While this figure is headline-grabbing, it represents a multi-year commitment that will rely on future spending reviews and parliamentary approval.
It includes an increased contribution from the NHS via the Better Care Fund and aims to provide stability for local authorities over the next three years.
The paper also clarifies that notional funding allocations for each council are being published to aid budget‑setting; these figures act as a reference, not a spending target.

For HomeCareDirect’s clients and staff, the promise of new investment could help address chronic issues such as delayed hospital discharge and workforce shortages.
However, the sector has heard funding pledges before.
The Local Government Association (LGA) responded that, while it welcomes the additional £4.6 billion, the sector still faces a significant funding gap and needs a sustainable investment strategy.
Therefore, it will be important to see whether this additional money translates into real improvements in fee rates, commissioning practices and workforce pay.

Simplifying funding flows and increasing flexibility

One of the most significant changes set out in the paper is the simplification of funding flows.
Currently, councils receive multiple adult social care grants with separate conditions and reporting requirements. From 2026/27, the government will consolidate existing grants, such as the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund and the Social Care Grant, into the Fair Funding Allocation paid through councils’ Revenue Support Grant.
This consolidation is intended to reduce administrative burdens, allow councils greater discretion to tailor spending to local needs and make it easier to trace how public money is used.
By granting councils more flexibility, the government hopes to encourage innovation in service design and commissioning.

For providers like HomeCareDirect, simplified funding streams could lead to more responsive commissioning and less bureaucratic overhead.
However, greater flexibility also brings variability; the outcomes will depend on how councils choose to deploy resources locally.
Providers will need to engage with local authorities early to ensure that personalised care models are recognised and adequately funded.

Greater transparency through refreshed CQC assessments

The paper notes that the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) refreshed approach to local authority assessments will be rolled out next year.
The CQC will publish baseline reports on how councils are meeting their statutory duties, providing transparency that has been missing.
Combined with the DHSC’s support offer and local improvement initiatives, these assessments aim to drive quality improvements and make it easier for the public and providers to see how well councils are performing.
HomeCareDirect welcomes this transparency: better data on local authority performance can help clients make informed choices and encourage councils to commission services that align with best practice.

Looking ahead

The Adult Social Care Priorities paper represents a significant policy statement.
It shows a national government finally acknowledging the pressures on social care and offering both vision and resources.
For HomeCareDirect and its clients, the commitments to quality, choice and integration resonate strongly.
Yet the success of this plan will depend on sustained funding, meaningful local engagement and accountability.
By staying informed and advocating for personalised, community-based models of care, providers and service‑users can help shape a national care service that truly improves lives

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