Why Learning Disability Services Now Dominate Social Care Spend — And What Providers Must Do Next

If you deliver learning disability and autism services, it probably feels as though the pressure has never been higher: tougher negotiations, rising expectations, complex individuals and a constant push to “do more with less”. That feeling isn’t imagined – it’s baked into the national numbers.

New analysis from the County Councils Network and Newton shows that working-age and lifelong disabled adults now sit at the very centre of adult social care spending in England. In 2023/24, around 63% of all commissioned adult social care support (such as residential and home-based care) was for working-age and lifelong disabled adults, even though they represent only about 40% of service users. Within that, support for working-age adults with a learning disability is the single biggest element of council commissioning – around 37% of all care and support costs, or £6.4bn, and more than the total spent on older adults with physical disabilities and dementia.

For learning disability providers, this is both a warning light and a strategic opportunity. When such a large share of spend is tied up in your client group, you can expect continued scrutiny, but also a central role in shaping what “good” looks like over the next decade.

The spending picture: rising costs, rising expectations

Over just five years, councils’ commissioned expenditure on care and support for working-age and lifelong disabled adults has increased from £8.3bn in 2019 to £10.9bn in 2024 – a rise of around 32%. Average weekly spend per person in this group has jumped by roughly 31%, from £565 to £735.

For people with the most complex learning disability needs, the picture is even more stark. Some individuals are now associated with care packages costing over £3,300 per week on average, with increases of more than £1,000 per week over the last year alone.

The key drivers are familiar to anyone working in the sector:

• Increasing complexity and acuity – more people with profound needs, behaviours that challenge and forensic histories.
• Limited suitable housing – councils forced into 24-hour residential or out-of-area placements because local supported living options simply don’t exist.
• Market dynamics – providers balancing statutory LD contracts with the (often better funded) older people’s self-funder market.
• Workforce pressures – recruitment, retention and fair pay driving up the real cost of safe staffing.

Put simply: learning disability services are where a huge amount of resource is concentrated, and where cost growth is proving hardest to contain. That reality will shape commissioning behaviour for years to come.

What this means for LD providers

When your client group accounts for the largest single slice of spend, you can expect three things: more scrutiny, more expectation and more change.

1. Sharper financial scrutiny

Councils will rightly keep asking: “Are we buying the right things, in the right way, at the right price?” Expect more:

• Comparative fee benchmarking across providers and regions.
• Reviews of the highest-cost placements, especially out-of-area and 24-hour residential services.
• Challenges where packages appear to be “static” rather than stepping down as independence grows.

For providers, this is not just about defending hourly rates. It’s about clearly articulating how your model changes the cost curve over time – preventing escalation, avoiding hospital admissions, and enabling step-down from high-intensity settings.

2. A stronger push towards independence and housing reform

The CCN analysis is clear that too many working-age adults are in expensive, sometimes inappropriate residential placements because of poor housing options. It calls for more local supported housing, better planning reform and closer alignment with education and employment.

Commissioners will be looking for providers who can:

• Offer clear pathways out of institutional or over-supported settings.
• Work with housing partners to develop bespoke, flexible accommodation.
• Show how they support people into citizenship, employment and community roles, not just safe care.

3. Data, outcomes and impact – not just stories

Positive stories still matter, but they are no longer enough. If LD support is consuming over a third of care and support spend, decision-makers will want to see hard evidence that this investment:

• Reduces pressure on the NHS (unplanned admissions, delayed discharges, long-stay inpatient placements).
• Supports DWP and Treasury priorities (employment, reduced economic inactivity, stable housing).
• Improves long-term outcomes and reduces future cost liabilities for councils.

The third sector and not-for-profit LD providers are often doing outstanding work in these areas already – but the evidence isn’t always packaged in a way that lands with commissioners and procurement teams.

Turning pressure into strategic opportunity

The most successful learning disability providers over the next five years will be those who treat this spending picture as a strategic prompt, not just a threat. Here are some practical ways to respond positively.

1. Reframe your offer around independence and prevention

If commissioners are worried about high-cost LD placements, your narrative should show how your model:

• Prevents escalation to 24/7 residential or hospital settings.
• Supports people to move down the dependency curve, not stay at the same level of support indefinitely.
• Uses active support, PBS and assistive technology to reduce reliance on 1:1 and 2:1 staffing over time.

Concretely, that means building case studies and trajectories that show:

• People moving from out-of-area placements back to local communities.
• Reductions in staffing ratios as skills, confidence and community connections grow.
• Real employment, volunteering and education outcomes – not just attendance at day activities.

2. Get serious about housing partnerships

Housing is now one of the most important levers in LD commissioning. Councils are explicitly calling for more specialist, flexible housing options to avoid high-cost institutional placements.

LD providers don’t have to become landlords – but you do need a clear housing strategy. That might include:

• Partnerships with housing associations or social landlords who understand supported living.
• Models that allow for step-up / step-down support in the same building or locality.
• Involvement in local housing plans and supported housing strategies so your voice is heard early, not after decisions are made.

3. Build a “whole life” data story

Commissioners increasingly want to see impact across systems, not just within social care. You can strengthen your position by tracking and presenting data linked to:

• Health – A&E attendances, hospital admissions, use of restrictive interventions, community health engagement.
• Employment & education – sustained paid work, apprenticeships, college, skills development.
• Housing stability – tenancy sustainment, moves to more independent living, avoidance of homelessness.
• Community and relationships – friendships, community groups, safeguarding concerns resolved early.

Even simple, well-presented dashboards can transform your conversations with commissioners – and significantly strengthen tender submissions and fee uplift cases.

4. Prepare for the re-tender wave

Many learning disability contracts awarded – or extended – during the COVID period are now approaching re-procurement. Combined with the Procurement Act changes and the spending picture above, LD services are highly likely to sit within the “must look again” category for many councils.

That makes bid readiness a core governance task, not just a business development nice-to-have. Practical steps include:

• Refreshing your service model narrative so it clearly links to independence, housing, employment and outcomes.
• Developing a bid library with agreed answers, evidence and case studies specifically for learning disability and autism.
• Capturing commissioner and family feedback in a way that can be quoted in tenders and service reviews.
• Stress-testing your pricing models so they are sustainable but defensible, with a clear link between cost, need and outcomes.

5. Invest in your own commercial and tender capability

As budgets tighten, the gap between “good operational provider” and “strategically sharp provider” will widen. The organisations that thrive will be those that:

• Understand local and national commissioning trends.
• Know which tenders to pursue – and which to walk away from.
• Can translate frontline excellence into clear, high-scoring written answers with robust evidence.

If you don’t have in-house bid capacity, or you’re facing a cluster of re-tenders in the next 18–24 months, it may be worth getting some external support in place early rather than waiting for deadlines to appear.

How Impact Guru can help LD providers respond

At Impact Guru I work with learning disability and autism providers across England to strengthen their commercial position, evidence base and tender strategy – from opportunity triage and bid readiness through to full bid writing and renewal support. If you’d like to sense-check your LD strategy, talk through the national picture in more detail, or review a specific tender, you can request a bespoke bid quote here:
👉 https://impact-guru.co.uk/pages/request-bid-writing-quote

In summary

Learning disability services are no longer a niche part of the adult social care system. They are at its financial and moral centre. With around two-thirds of commissioned support now going to working-age and lifelong disabled adults – and LD support alone taking the largest single share – pressure on providers will not ease any time soon.

But providers are not powerless. By reframing your offer around independence and prevention, strengthening housing partnerships, building a whole-life evidence story and getting genuinely bid-ready, you can move from “defending fees” to leading the conversation about what sustainable, high-impact learning disability support should look like.

If you’d like help turning that into a concrete strategy – or into high-scoring tender responses – I’d be very happy to talk.

Source: County Councils Network & Newton, The Forgotten Story of Social Care (2024) – analysis of adult social care commissioning spend and cost drivers for working-age and lifelong disabled adults, including learning disability services. Available via the County Councils Network website.