English councils call for further delay to social care costs cap

Funding and staffing shortages mean plan to introduce cap in October 2025 impossible to deliver, councils say

Long-awaited changes designed to protect individuals from having to sell their homes to meet large social care bills must be further delayed because of funding and staffing shortages, the leaders of England's largest councils have said.

Plans to introduce a cap on social care costs - which would limit people's lifetime care cost contributions to a maximum of 86,000 - in October 2025 will be impossible to deliver, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.