Tender: Research on Cost Misalignment between NHS Continuing Healthcare and Local Authority Adult Social Care – LGA

About

The Local Government Association is seeking a supplier to undertake a focused policy research project examining how NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) interacts with local authority adult social care and whether current funding and accountability arrangements create incentives that shift costs and risks between organisations. The project will build on recent evidence, including ADASS's Spring Survey 2026 which found 75% of Directors of Adult Social Services reporting an increase in people presenting to adult social care who were, or previously would have been, eligible for CHC and 84% reporting that Integrated Care Board disinvestment in CHC is contributing to adult social care overspending pressures, and research from The King’s Fund showing CHC eligibility rates have fallen significantly alongside substantial variation between ICB areas. The LGA wants to understand how these issues play out locally, whether arrangements create misaligned incentives, the impact on local government, the NHS, people drawing on care and support and unpaid carers, and what reforms could improve alignment between health and social care funding and accountability; the findings will inform future LGA policy development and engagement with government, national partners and stakeholders.