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A Sector Facing Real Pressure
The context matters. Local authorities across England face combined budget gaps exceeding £4 billion for 2025 to 2026, and adult social care spending has increased 47% since 2015 in cash terms yet buys 9% fewer care hours due to inflation and cost pressures. These are system-wide pressures that affect everyone operating within commissioned care, and they make the case for smarter, more connected ways of working stronger than ever.
Providers are likely to see increasing demand for models of care that bridge hospital and long-term support, as commissioners shape pathways that reduce pressure on acute services and residential placements. The demand to deliver delegated health activities is growing, and this is expected to be a continued area of growth for the sector. For providers with the right infrastructure and commissioner relationships in place, that represents a genuine opportunity to expand their role within local care systems.
Workforce: The Shared Challenge
Workforce sustainability is the issue most providers are grappling with right now, and it is one the whole sector needs to address together. Despite several years of significant hiring from overseas, there were still 111,000 vacant posts in adult social care in England as of March 2025.
The closure of the care worker visa route to new overseas applicants in July 2025 has accelerated the need for a stronger focus on domestic recruitment, retention and internal development. In November 2025, the government updated its Care Workforce Pathway, a national career structure for adult social care workers, with the goal of making a career in care more attractive through clearer progression, recognition and training. That framework gives providers a foundation to build on.
Pay remains the primary barrier to recruitment and retention, with more than a third of staff leaving care organisations citing better pay elsewhere as their main reason for doing so. The Fair Pay Agreement aims to address this at a structural level, though the first pay increases are not expected before 2028. In the meantime, providers that invest in the everyday experience of their workforce, through clear progression, strong onboarding and genuine wellbeing support, are best placed to hold onto the people they have.
Recent research with over 400 care workers found that many of the improvements that matter most to retention are practical, achievable and can be implemented now.
What the Reform Agenda Brings
The government is making around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in the 2028 to 2029 financial year compared with 2025 to 2026. Alongside that investment, expectations around how care is delivered are evolving. Closer working between local authorities, the NHS and care providers is a central ambition, with neighbourhood-based approaches, multidisciplinary working and shared planning all becoming more prominent.
Providers that can demonstrate outcomes, engage constructively with commissioner oversight and align with these broader system goals will be well positioned as the reform agenda develops.
The Right Tools for the Work Ahead
Responding well to this environment requires more than operational resilience. Providers need digital infrastructure that supports quality, strengthens commissioner relationships and makes life easier for the people delivering care on the ground.
The Access Group's Commissioning Evo Suite brings this together in one connected workspace for providers working within local authority commissioned services, covering the full cycle from analysis and planning through to delivery and review. For providers, that means cleaner communication with commissioners, stronger evidence of quality and less time spent navigating disconnected systems. Within the suite:
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Access Evo brings together the tools that make this possible for providers working within local authority commissioned services.
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CM Mobile gives frontline care workers access to care plans, visit schedules and recording tools on the go, reducing administrative burden and supporting compliance at the point of care.
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Care Management (CM) connects operational delivery to commissioner oversight, giving providers and their local authority partners a shared view of care activity, outcomes and demand patterns.
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Access Adam Commissioning enables local authorities to manage contracts, monitor performance and engage with providers more effectively, making for cleaner communication, faster processes and clearer expectations on both sides.
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Provider Management Solution brings together dynamic data collection, risk profiling and quality assessment to support market shaping and quality assurance across the provider landscape, giving commissioners and providers a clearer picture of where performance is strong and where additional support can make a difference.
Building Services That Last
Local authority care provision is changing, and the providers best placed to thrive within it are those investing now in their workforce, their digital capability and their relationships with commissioners. That combination underpins sustainable services and, ultimately, better outcomes for the people receiving care.
To find out how Access Evo supports care providers working within local authority commissioned services, get in touch with our team or book a product tour.
