English councils spent £11.5bn on children's social care in 2025/26, a rise of 21.6%, as overall third-party expenditure climbed to £98.5bn, according to new research from Oxygen Finance.
The total third-party expenditure was up £4bn (4.2%) on the previous year, though annual growth slowed for the second year running. The findings appear in the sixth edition of the Local Government Third-Party Spend Almanac, produced with Local Partnerships.
Vulnerable Citizens and Public Health remained the largest category at £43.1bn, up 7.5% and accounting for three-quarters of the overall increase. Adult social care rose a more modest 3.2% to £28.6bn.
Spending on buildings dropped 0.7% to £21.4bn, Highways and Transport spending declined 4.3% to £10bn, and Corporate expenditure decreased 3.1% to £5.4bn. Culture and Leisure saw the fastest percentage growth, up 12.4% to £1.3bn.
Estimated supply-chain carbon emissions edged up 0.5% to 22.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Waste and Environment generated 19.2% of Scope 3 emissions despite representing just 5.8% of spend. However, carbon intensity per £1bn spent fell 3.6%, partly reflecting a shift towards lower-emission categories.
In her foreword to the Almanac, Adele Gritten, Chief Executive of Local Partnerships, writes: ‘What stands out this year is not simply that expenditure has continued to increase, but that its composition is changing.’
She adds: ‘These findings do not provide simple answers. They do, however, help identify where councils may need to look more closely at market capacity, commissioning approaches, supplier relationships and the factors driving expenditure locally.’
