Thousands of people receiving care at home could soon benefit from seeing more familiar faces and receiving more personalised support under government plans to reorganise social care around local neighbourhoods.
The proposals would encourage councils to commission home care services across smaller, defined geographical areas, with one or two primary providers responsible for delivering care within each neighbourhood.
The government says the approach will improve continuity of care, help carers build stronger relationships with those they support, and reduce the amount of time care workers spend travelling between appointments.
New guidance and practical toolkits will be published in Spring to help local authorities transition to neighbourhood-based commissioning models. Ministers also intend to work closely with councils over the coming months to monitor progress and support implementation.
Under the current system, councils often commission individual care visits from multiple providers operating across large areas. As a result, people receiving care may see a range of different carers over the course of a week, while care workers can spend significant periods travelling between appointments.
The proposed neighbourhood model seeks to address these issues by providing greater consistency for service users and a more efficient working pattern for staff.
For people receiving care, seeing the same carers regularly can help build trust and improve the overall quality of support. Familiar carers are also more likely to identify changes in a person's health, wellbeing or circumstances at an earlier stage, allowing interventions before issues become more serious.
For care workers, operating within smaller local areas could reduce travel times, enable more time with service users and create a less fragmented working day.
Evidence supporting the approach comes from research undertaken by the Health Innovation Network South West, which examined care delivery across six providers in Bristol.
The study found that reorganising existing care visits into geographical zones could potentially deliver the same level of care using 35% less staff time and 65% less driving, demonstrating significant opportunities to increase efficiency without reducing support.
Minister of State for Social Care and Mental Health Alison McGovern said:
“We have a growing, ageing population and an NHS facing significant pressures. We are turning it around, but our NHS is at risk of being overburdened. Our National Care Service is the answer, and neighbourhood commissioning is a step towards this.
“Commissioning social care by neighbourhoods will help people stay well, independent and at home for longer. Homecare will be more personalised, and people will see familiar carers who understand their needs and priorities. Carers won’t travel as far, saving time instead of rushing from visit to visit and carrying out set tasks in an impersonal way.
“Under our plans, social care will work in lockstep with our NHS, better care at home means fewer unnecessary trips to hospital. We will work with councils and our NHS to deliver more care in our community, care that is proactive, planned and preventative, as we continue to lay the foundations for our National Care Service.”
The reforms form part of the government's wider 10-Year Health Plan, which aims to shift more healthcare and social care services into local communities.
Neighbourhood commissioning mirrors ongoing efforts to develop neighbourhood health services that integrate GP practices, local authorities, social care providers and voluntary sector organisations to deliver more joined-up, preventative support closer to home.
The announcement follows recent measures designed to reduce pressure on hospitals and improve preventative care.
These include:
- £40 million of additional funding to enable GP practices to provide enhanced support to around 300,000 vulnerable patients, reducing avoidable hospital admissions.
- Plans for a fully funded National Care Service, announced by the Prime Minister alongside Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, to be established during the next Parliament.
- An additional £4.6 billion in funding for local authorities by 2028-29 compared with 2025-26 levels.
- The introduction of the first Fair Pay Agreement for care workers.
- Development of a long-term adult social care workforce plan.
- Acceleration of Baroness Casey's review of adult social care, which will help shape recommendations for the future National Care Service.
- New initiatives including a safeguarding board, the development of fast-track care pathways for people with motor neurone disease and the appointment of a dementia tsar.
For local authorities and care providers, the shift signals a significant move towards place-based social care delivery, with ministers positioning neighbourhood commissioning as a key building block in the creation of a future National Care Service.
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