Most social workers expect cuts to their budgets this year

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This is despite ministers making £3.7bn extra available to local authorities with social care responsibilities this year, compared with 2024-25, through government grant increases and council tax rises averaging about 5%.

Though the increase in funding for councils was judged to be significant by think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, social care leaders have warned it is inadequate in the context of increasing pressures, including from the rise in national insurance contributions for employers.

Social workers predict budget cuts in 2025-26

This seems to be the view of social workers too. Of roughly 600 respondents in a Community Care poll, the majority (62%) said they were expecting cuts, with 43% of those anticipating significant ones.

Only 8% said their budget would be increased by enough to meet demand, while 15% expected a hike in funding that would fall short of what was needed and 7% a frozen budget.

Councils receiving ‘exceptional financial support’

Some councils are already under extreme strain.

Twenty seven have been granted ‘exceptional financial support’ to balance their budgets, up from 17 last year. This means the authorities will be able to borrow or use receipts from the sale of assets to fund day-to-day expenditure.

Six of those – Birmingham, Bradford, Newham, Somerset, Trafford and Windsor and Maidenhead – have also been allowed to raise council tax above the usual referendum threshold.

How is your local authority dealing with the financial pressures on social care in 2025-26?

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com