Adult Social Care Spending By Local Authorities Is Under The Spotlight. How Should Procurement Teams Respond?

Bloom supports adult social care procurement settings where quality, consistency, and efficient local provider relationships are key to delivering safe, dignified outcomes. We are more aware than most of the recent changes within the Department of Health & Social Care and their impacts. We have worked hard to deliver savings, efficiencies and innovations within the public sector more broadly since our inception in 2012.  

Since then, budgets have tightened, demand has increased, and scrutiny from central government has grown exponentially.  In 2025, specific restructuring is coming down the track, and the COVID-19 pandemic is surely still fresh in everyone’s minds. Local authority adult social care procurement teams are in the eye of the storm, as they are forced to achieve more with less in trying circumstances.

In our latest blog, Bloom explores the local authority adult social care landscape and the seismic shifts on the horizon. Based on our direct experience, we’ll share how local authority procurement teams can take confident, decisive steps, avoid common pitfalls, and, rather than feel overwhelmed, take stock and make the most of the opportunities to come. 

Who Manages Adult Social Care In The UK?

Adult social care in the UK is notoriously complex, with responsibilities spread across different organisations. But at the local level, councils are primarily responsible for assessing needs, commissioning services, safeguarding, and ensuring quality across care settings, even if delivery typically comes from the private or not-for-profit sectors. Within each local authority, procurement plays a pivotal role: sourcing and onboarding care providers, managing contracts, and, importantly, working with local health authorities, including the NHS, to achieve integrated solutions. 

Despite leaving responsibility at a local level, significant oversight and funding flow from the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC). Until recently, NHS England was also a key, albeit indirect, stakeholder in the process of delivering social care services. However,  in March 2025, the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Wes Streeting, announced its abolishment. The process was described as the dismantling of the ‘world’s biggest quango’ and heralded as a return of responsibility for health services to central government.  This, in addition to the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, during which services were forced to innovate and evolve at unprecedented levels, has led to adult social care operating in a state of flux.  As policy continues to rapidly evolve today, local procurement teams must keep pace. 

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

After managing periods of unprecedented uncertainty during lockdowns, all professionals who manage adult social care have, to varying degrees, had to undertake COVID-19 service reinstatement and recovery planning. Some local authorities have implemented formal Transformation Programmes to develop new collaborative approaches in adult social care, apply lessons learned, and, as required, return social care services to pre-pandemic standards. They have turned to private sector expertise for support in delivering these programmes. 

In a recent example, a large local authority collaborated with Bloom to select a specialist partner to support its senior leadership teams in identifying and scoping transformational workstreams, establishing a governance framework, and developing associated implementation tools and methodologies to ensure a successful roll-out. These new tools utilised the latest in digital technology and automation to improve outcomes further. 

Clearly, selecting the right partner to drive changes like these through a council adult social care service is a crucial endeavour to get right. A poor relationship is likely to result in weaker outcomes and disappointing value for money. Conversely, choosing a service delivery partner who is committed to working proactively, collaboratively and in an outcome-focused manner is proven to be successful. 

The Impact Of Abolishing NHS England 

The government's argument for dissolving NHS England centres on reducing administrative overhead and streamlining decision-making. Bringing its functions under the DHSC will, according to the government, lead to greater accountability and clearer lines of responsibility. Although not explicitly stated as a primary driver, the reduction in administrative staff is also likely to result in cost savings. Many NHS England roles will be absorbed into the DHSC and new integrated governance models. 

For local authority adult care service procurement professionals, this shift means building new social care relationships and pathways. This is likely to have implications for joint commissioning and pooled funds and resources, with new and potentially more robust oversight coming on stream as the DHSC wields increased influence. 

Procurement teams that understand the direction of travel and start building agile, integrated care sourcing strategies today will be better placed to succeed. It is widely understood that technology, digitisation and applications of AI will have an increased role here, too; helping decision-makers to respond to changing requirements with speed and agility and minimising costly administrative drag. 

Achieving Cost-Effective Council Adult Social Care 

Many local authorities have reported poor financial performance in recent years through various mechanisms, including the use of Section 114 Notices, which limit new spending to essential services. These pressures, too, can lead councils to make significant changes to adult social care departments. 

In the case of local authorities with spending limits to consider, help from private sector partners can often benefit from innovative partnerships and contracting arrangements. Linking supplier performance directly to outcomes can mean success despite, or perhaps because of, tight budgetary constraints.  For example, Bloom is aware of at least one local authority that has tied payments for a professional services contract directly to savings achieved. The provider earned a percentage of savings as part of their fee, incentivising a results-driven approach. 

Connecting Local Authorities With Suppliers

So far, we’ve established several ways local authority adult care service procurement teams can influence the cost-effectiveness in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. One significant commonality between successful programmes is agile, responsive contracting. Smaller, specialist providers often deliver better results in this area than larger incumbent suppliers who bring legacy systems and larger overheads.  Smaller suppliers are, however, sometimes difficult for procurers to find. Looking at the other side of the equation, the bidding activity to win local authority work is also often too onerous for smaller suppliers to handle. 

New priorities also mean it is perhaps time to redefine value in any case. The lowest price doesn't always mean the best value, and adult care service procurement teams should assess outcomes comprehensively. What do you need? Can you find a supplier who will work with a genuine sense of partnership to achieve it?

To help, it’s worth investing in more straightforward procurement systems and quicker approval cycles. Simplifying sourcing, using existing proven platforms and engaging with pre-approved suppliers have all been proven to contribute to success. 

The Growing Importance Of Technology, Digitisation and AI

Technology is increasingly integral to adult social care reform, and procurement needs to reflect the opportunity that new tools and techniques represent. The digitalisation of processes is well underway, and the integration of AI presents an exciting new horizon.  It will soon be simpler, faster and cheaper to assess needs, triage support, communicate outcomes and monitor performance than ever. If you act slowly and put barriers in place to innovation today, you’ll miss out on countless benefits tomorrow. 

Social care procurement professionals need to overcome the challenge presented by the fact that many digital and AI solutions are likely to come from SMEs outside the traditional care provision marketplace. This means procurement teams may have to cast their net wider for help and work harder to assess suppliers who have a track record elsewhere. 

If you are working in adult social care, now is the time to ask yourself if you’re ready to source, evaluate, and onboard tech-enabled suppliers. The good news is that platforms like Bloom can help bridge any gap you find between you and new marketplaces by providing fast, compliant and budget-friendly routes to emerging solutions.

Important Next Steps For Local Authority Adult Social Care Teams 

The spotlight is on adult care services, and expectations for improving services while controlling expenditure have never been higher. The good news is that the tools to focus on positive outcomes are available right now. Borrowing lessons learned from the technology start-up sector and adopting a more agile, responsive mindset is more commonplace, too. 

It’s becoming increasingly clear that, in today’s environment, procurement practices which exclude high-quality SMEs and digital innovators can act as a barrier to cost-effectiveness. As professional procurers, it is undoubtedly wise to expand your view of the marketplace to unlock both value and quality improvements from new, and perhaps, unlikely sources. 

Processes like those Bloom run through the NEPRO³ framework are specifically designed to help public sector teams access innovation while maintaining compliance with regulations and best practices. They also make it easier to align procurement criteria with care outcomes, challenging assumptions about cost and value.

Now is the time to act. Traditional silos and legacy thinking are increasingly being challenged, and technology is opening up exciting new possibilities.

Bloom helps procurement professionals in the spotlight to act faster, work smarter, and make decisions more confidently. We can support local authority adult social care teams by connecting them with the right suppliers at the right time through the most effective channels.