FIGURES have revealed that St Helens Council spent more than £100 million on providing adult social care last year as spending on services across England reached a record high.

In his autumn statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a further £4.7 billion for adult social care up to 2024-25, aimed at aiding hospital discharge rates and freeing up beds, and providing local authorities with more money for services.

'Budgets being stretched'

But health think tank Nuffield Trust said budgets are being stretched due to inflationary pressures, and the system needs long-term funding to address severe workforce and capacity shortages.

NHS Digital figures show total expenditure on adult social care in St Helens was £130.7 million in the year to March.

Of this, £24.9 million was spent on council-run services, £104.4 million on external businesses offering adult social care, and a further £1.5 million on grants to local charities to provide support.

The majority of the funding, 88 per cent, went towards providing long-term care.

St Helens Council can offset the amount it spends on providing care through various income and funding streams, such as investment from the NHS and joint arrangements with patients.

Last year, it received £22.6 million, meaning its gross spending on providing adult social care sat at £108 million – up from £71.7 million in 2020-21.

Gross expenditure is used by the NHS to monitor how much adult social care costs local authorities each year.

This includes patients paying for services themselves – which amounted to £17.1 million in St Helens in 2021-22.

Across England, gross spending on adult social care services rose for the sixth successive year, reaching £22 billion – the highest point in real and cash terms since records began in 2005-06.

But despite the continued rise in investment, as well as Mr Hunt’s added funding announced in the autumn statement, the Nuffield Trust said the money available to deal with the increasing demand on adult social care services falls short of the required standard given the inflationary pressures local councils and providers face.

The Department for Health and Social Care said it has “prioritised health and social care in the autumn statement” with up to £7.5 billion in investment made available in the next two years.

A spokesperson added that the Government is investing £15 million in international recruitment and is running its annual domestic recruitment campaign to address workforce shortages.