Councils in England may have to spend £17bn on care for working age adults and those with a life-long disability by the end of the decade, research has warned.

The report found last year the cost of providing care and support to this group was about £11bn, already up by a third in five years. 

Analysis by the umbrella-group the County Councils' Network (CCN) and consultancy Newton said rising costs were driven by the increasing complexity and needs of adults. It revealed councils spent 63% of social care commissioning budgets on working age adults in 2023-24.

CCN's adult social care spokesperson, Martin Tett, said: ‘Our research reveals that far too many working age and lifelong disabled adults are placed in expensive and sometimes inappropriate residential placements. This is bad for councils and even worse for care users who see their independence drastically reduced.'