The Government’s consultation on the ASCNB could reshape pay and conditions across the sector. Read our Head of Workforce, Naomi Cooke’s, November 2025 blog to understand what this means for local government and how to make sure your council’s voice is heard before the deadline on 16 January 2026.
There’s a quiet revolution brewing in adult social care, one that could reshape the sector as we know it. At the heart of it is the introduction of new framework: the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body (ASCNB). It is part of the Employment Rights Bill and brings with it the promise of a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) for the social care workforce.
The Government is consulting on exactly how this will be implemented so we don’t quite know the final details, but we do know this is potentially transformative for the sector and for councils.
What’s actually changing?
The ASCNB will bring together trade unions and employer representatives to negotiate legally binding pay and conditions for adult social care workers in England. Once agreed, these Fair Pay Agreements will be enforceable (just like the national minimum wage) and backed by a new Fair Work Agency.
The Government says it’s committed to forming the ASCNB by 2026, with the goal of reaching a ratified agreement before the next election.
This is good news for the sector, but what does this mean for local government?
Rising costs, tight budgets
Let’s not sugar-coat it: this is likely to increase costs. Unlike other sectors, care providers are limited in their ability to increase productivity or cut costs to absorb the impact. This potentially means higher contract fee demands for councils and self-funders. Higher fees are likely to mean greater demand for services (as self-funders run out of funds) and the return of some contracts where a provider cannot meet the new costs.
Add to this rising National Insurance contributions and the national living wage, for which independent providers are already looking at an estimated £3 billion in additional costs in 2025–26, and we have new pressures on an already fragile market.
Service risks vs workforce gains
The worry is that if councils can’t adjust fees, providers may cut services, reject new contracts, or exit the market altogether. That’s a real risk to continuity, especially in communities already stretched thin.
The flip side is that better pay and conditions could finally tackle the sector’s chronic recruitment and retention issues. Fewer vacancies, better care, less pressure on unpaid carers and NHS discharge teams. It’s a compelling vision – if the funding follows.
Implementation concerns
Together with key national partners, we’ve been working with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on how this policy can be implemented.
We’ve had constructive discussions and have come a long way in shaping the framework, however we still have some major concerns about elements included in the proposals of how this would work in practice. For example, there’s no guaranteed funding for councils to implement FPAs, and there is a risk the Secretary of State could impose terms agreed by unions and providers without proper consideration of the impact on local government. Given responsibilities for market shaping and service access, councils need a compelling presence at the table, not just a role in footing the bill.
So, what can councils do now?
This isn’t just about reacting. It’s about thinking about what’s happening and giving our views to Government on how we think this could work best for the workforce, for employers and for the people who receive care services.
The very first thing you can do is speak up. Respond to the consultation and make sure your local realities are heard. Make the case for the importance of sufficient funding and strong local representation for local government in the ASCNB.
We will also have to model the money. Do you have plans in place for how the FPA could affect your council? What happens if wages of your commissioned workforce rise to £13 or £15 per hour? What’s the impact on your care budget, your wider finances, your reserves?
You may need to also model and rethink your Commissioning policies and practices. Are your fee schedules realistic? Could longer-term contracts or pooled budgets help stabilise provider income and protect service quality?
The social care workforce is at the centre of the ambitions of the FPA. The current definition means that the 120,000 adult social care (ASC) workers employed directly by councils would also be in scope. Given the limited likelihood of the £500m specified for the first FPA being sufficient to fund a pay award of note for the whole workforce, this may mean that council workers are out of scope of any NJC (Green Book) pay award and do not benefit from a FPA leaving them worse off than currently and causing equal pay and recruitment and retention difficulties for councils as employers. This is why the LGA is suggesting that those employed by councils are left out of scope initially, with the situation reviewed in future years when pay, terms and conditions (such as pension provision and sickness scheme access) are higher in the independent sector.
Local government has greater experience of collective bargaining than anyone else in the ASC sector, a fact that would be an asset to the ASCNB if councils were to be tangibly engaged.
Looking ahead: a fork in the road
The resilience of the care sector will be tested by this shift. It is a seismic shift in how we do things, and although there will be a transition period, we need to work with all the different agencies and providers to be ready. It will be important for councils to identify potentially at-risk providers and explore service blending or redundancy mitigation to avoid disruption if providers exit the market.
The ASCNB and Fair Pay Agreements could be the catalyst for a stronger, more stable adult social care workforce but without adequate funding and genuine local government involvement, they could also deepen existing cracks.
Councils must be empowered – not sidelined – in shaping the future of adult social care. The decisions made now will echo for years to come.
Make your council’s voice heard: respond to the consultation
The consultation closes on 16 January 2026 and your input matters.
To make sure your council’s response reflects the full picture for your workforce, your local care market and local community, we strongly encourage you to involve colleagues from HR, finance, adult and children’s social care, and procurement in preparing your submission.
Our website has more information about the consultation including a full explanation of the LGA’s key concerns, and a recording and slides from our webinar.
The LGA has agreed with the DHSC that councils can submit consultation responses that go beyond the parameters of the online response form. You can email your full consultation response to the DHSC on [email protected]
To help us represent the sector effectively, please also send us a copy of your submission to [email protected]
Sign up for our ASC negotiating body consultation webinar
Join us at our webinar on 3 December where we’ll recap the key issues for local government, including insights from the recently published Impact Assessment. It’s your chance to ask questions and discuss the challenges that matter most to help you to engage effectively with the consultation.
Find out more and book your place on the events section on the LGA website