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Councils in England are now spending almost two-thirds of their budgets on social care, and it’s costing them almost £4bn more than 10 years ago.

That leaves less room in the budget to pay for other services provided by local authorities, like bin collections, road maintenance and public parks. And it’s rural councils with the oldest populations which are being stretched most.

Councils that have made cuts say they are responding to a combination of pressures, including rising inflation, the sharp reduction in government grants since the 2010s, and the increasing demands of caring for an aging population.

Local authorities in England spent more than £30bn on social care in 2021/22, out of £49bn total spending on all services, excluding education. That’s an increase of almost £4bn, or 15%, since 2012, even after adjusting for inflation.

Meanwhile, spending on transport services has declined by £1.2bn, spending on culture and the environment has reduced by more than £1bn, and spending on housing has gone down by £300m in real terms.

See what your council spends on social care

Halton Council, in Cheshire, spends more than 80% of its total budget on social care, a massive increase from just 52% in 2012. The £92m they spent in 2021/22 is £20m higher in real terms than what they spent in 2011/12.

Over that period they have cut spending on street lighting by £1.7m – a huge two-thirds reduction – and road maintenance by £600,000, a 25% cut.

Many of the areas spending the least on social care – in some cases actually spending less than they were 10 years ago – were in London.

In Tower Hamlets, for example, they spent £13m less in real terms on social care in 2021/22 than they did in 2011/12, while spending about £130,000 more on road maintenance.

Why is this happening?

Over the past decade there has been a change to how councils are funded. The reduction of government grants, beginning in 2013/14, meant they needed to raise more funding directly.

There is a limit to how much councils can raise in council tax – capped at 5% a year – and not all councils raise it by the maximum amount.

‘The government have to take it more seriously’

Councillor Rob Moreton, an independent councillor in Cheshire East, told Sky News about his personal experiences of trying to get jobs done amid tight council budgets:

“I’ve been trying to get this road resurfaced for four years now. I just get constantly told there’s not the funding for it this year ‘We’ll try and get it on a scheme for the year after, no money available’.

“Social care is very important. But potholes are also important if it’s costing car drivers thousands of pounds in broken springs, punctured tyres, and everything else.

“It’s totally unacceptable. We need more funding from central government. In 2020 we got £19m, then it was reduced to £15m and this year is £17.3m. The government are now producing £200m nationally for councils, but for Cheshire East that’s £2.3m, which is less than the £5m they’ve cut from us in recent years – we’ve had a 41% cut.

“The government have to take it more seriously and start funding councils. They have lost touch with local councils.”

Councils also have legal obligations that they have to fulfil, which limits where they can make savings.

For example, they must provide social care to those young and old people who are eligible for it.

Who’s eligible for council-funded social care?

So if more people become eligible for social care – which happens naturally as the population ages – council costs start to rack up. This has left some councils with difficult financial decisions to make, particularly those with older populations in rural areas.

Areas where more than a quarter of the population are over 65, like Devon, Suffolk and Dorset, which were among the highest social care spenders in the map above, have seen their social care costs rise by more than 40% in real terms since 2012.

If councils are limited on how much more money they can bring in, and they need to spend more on social care, they are forced to make cuts elsewhere to make their budgets work.

Councillor Tim Oliver, chairman of the County Councils Network, told Sky News: “Over the last decade, councils in county areas have seen a significant decrease in government funding at a time when their elderly populations have increased dramatically, with the number of over 65s in those areas rising by 1.1m from 2011 to 2021. At the same time, demand for children’s services has also increased rapidly.

“As a result, those councils now spend 64% of their budgets on average on these two service areas, with councils having to balance their legal duties to care for elderly and young people eligible for care with the funding they receive.

“Increasingly, this has meant money has been re-routed from bus subsidies, libraries, and community health services to make up the shortfall elsewhere.”

Jackie Weaver, a former parish councillor who became temporarily famous in 2020 when she was told that she “had no authority” over a meeting of Handforth Parish Council, in Cheshire, in a popular social media video, told Sky News that a contraction in services at county and district council level mean that town and parish councils are having to fill the gap:

“All the kind of community stuff that is visible, that makes us feel good, doesn’t happen anymore. They don’t have any money to do it.

“What we are seeing is that town and parish councils are stepping forward and picking up the slack. Over the past 10 years they’re recognising that nobody’s going to do it for us. If we want an improved transport scheme in the town, or a neighbourhood plan, then we’ve got to step up and do it ourselves.”

We put our findings, and the responses from councils, to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. A government spokesperson said: “We are making an additional £5.1bn available for councils in England in the next financial year.

“We are also providing multi-year certainty to local government, outlining spending over the next two years to allow councils to plan ahead with confidence.”


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Counter-terrorism police investigating after two women injured in Leeds

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Counter-terrorism police investigating after two women injured in Leeds

Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.

Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.

Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.

The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Officers guard one of the crime scenes in Leeds
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Officers guard one of the crime scenes

Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
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Officers inside the cordon in Leeds

Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.

“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.

“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

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Wrexham promoted for third season in a row under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney

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Wrexham promoted for third season in a row under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney

Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.

The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.

Wrexham's James McClean lifts the trophy after the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025.
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Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA

Wrexham's Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Wrexham. Photo credit should read: Martin Rickett/PA Wire...RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
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Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA

It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.

The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.

Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.

Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds (right) and Ryan's wife Blake Lively before the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025.
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Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA

Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.

More on Ryan Reynolds

Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.

Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.

Wrexham's Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Wrexham. Photo credit should read: Martin Rickett/PA Wire...RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
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Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA

He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.

As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.

Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.

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Direct action group Just Stop Oil holds final protest, claiming it has been ‘successful’

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Direct action group Just Stop Oil holds final protest, claiming it has been 'successful'

“It has been a success.”

Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.

Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.

Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.

Read more
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Activists target grave of Charles Darwin
77 year old JSO activist recalled to prison

As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.

The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.

Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.

But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.

That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.

JSO hangs up its high vis jackets in central London on Saturday
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JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday

A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO's disbanding
Image:
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding

“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.

“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”

Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.

He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.

“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.

“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”

Group triggers specific new protest laws

One thing it did change is the law.

Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.

“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”

A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Image:
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague

Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.

“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”

“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”

JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh's sunflowers
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JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers

Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
Image:
Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge

She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.

She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.

Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.

The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.

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