🇬🇧 UK

Can social services refuse to increase your care hours or cut your care budget?

Looking for US rules? → US money answers

UKUpdated 6 October 2026 · Written by BuyMeWhiskey Editorial Team · How we check facts

Councils can consider cost when deciding how to meet your needs, but under the Care Act your personal budget must be enough to meet all your eligible needs, and reviews can't be used to cut packages arbitrarily. You can ask for a review and complain if you're refused.

Ask your council in writing for a review of your care and support plan, saying what has changed and how many extra hours you need.

GOV.UK: Contact your council's adult social services

What the law says councils must do

Councils in England are under real money pressure, and many families feel assessments have got tougher. But the legal rules haven't changed. Under the Care Act 2014 and its statutory guidance:

Eligible needs must be met. Your needs are eligible if they come from a physical or mental impairment or illness, you can't achieve two or more of the outcomes listed in the regulations, and there's (or is likely to be) a significant impact on your wellbeing. All three conditions must apply.
The personal budget must be enough. The guidance says it "must always be an amount sufficient to meet the person's care and support needs". It should reflect what good-quality local care actually costs.
Money can affect how needs are met, but not whether they are. A council may take its budget into account when choosing between suitable options. It shouldn't set arbitrary upper limits on what it will pay. The guidance adds that this "does not mean choosing the cheapest option".
Reviews can't be used to cut packages arbitrarily. The guidance says doing so would be unlawful. Any reduction should follow a change in need or circumstances.

How to ask for more care hours

Section 27 of the Care Act says the council must review your care plan if you, or someone acting for you, make a reasonable request. The guidance expects a review to go ahead in most cases. The exceptions are when the council is reasonably satisfied the plan is still enough, or the request is frivolous, based on wrong information, or is really a complaint. If it says no, it should give its reasons and tell you how to take it further.

Put your request in writing. Say what has changed (for example, more falls, a carer who can't cope, a hospital stay) and how many extra hours you think are needed, and for which tasks.
Keep a diary for a week or two. Write down every task you need help with, how long it takes, and what happens when help isn't there.
Get supporting evidence from your GP, occupational therapist or district nurse if you can.
Ask how your budget was worked out. The guidance says the council should be transparent and share its cost assumptions.
Check the new plan line by line. Make sure every need in your assessment has a matching way of being met.

If the council refuses or cuts your package

Use the council's complaints procedure first and go through all its stages. If you're still unhappy, or haven't had a reply within a reasonable time (the Ombudsman says usually up to 16 weeks), you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. It's free, but it normally won't look at a complaint made more than 12 months after you first knew about the problem, so don't wait.

If you'd have substantial difficulty taking part in an assessment, care planning or review and there's no suitable friend or relative to help, the council must arrange an independent advocate for you.

Common mistakes

Describing your best days rather than your typical or worst days.
Not mentioning help that an unpaid carer gives. Councils don't have to meet needs a carer is meeting, but only for as long as the carer keeps doing it.
Accepting a verbal "there's no budget" answer. Ask for the decision and reasons in writing.
Missing the Ombudsman's 12-month window.

This page covers England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own social care laws. Free help is available from local advocacy services, Age UK and Citizens Advice.

Weekly care hours: current, requested and offered

Worked example

A request for 10 extra hours a week (illustrative figures). Joan, 82, gets 15 hours of home care a week. After two falls, her daughter asks the council in writing for a review and requests 10 more hours for help with washing, dressing and meals.

Councils usually cost a care plan using the local hourly rate for good-quality care. If that rate were £25 an hour:

Package	Hours a week	Weekly personal budget
Current	15	£375
Requested	25	£625
Council's first offer	19	£475

The council's offer is 6 hours short of what Joan asked for, which is £150 a week less. What matters isn't the price but whether 19 hours covers every eligible need in her assessment. Her daughter's diary shows morning washing and dressing takes 1 hour a day, or 7 hours a week, and the new plan only allows 4. She asks the council to explain how each need will be met in the hours offered. When it can't, she uses the complaints procedure, quoting the guidance that the budget must be "sufficient to meet the person's care and support needs".

Joan's own contribution depends on a separate financial assessment. The council pays the rest of the personal budget.

Can the council reduce my care package at a review?#

Only if your needs or circumstances have changed. The statutory guidance says reviews must not be used to arbitrarily reduce a package, and that doing so would be unlawful under the Care Act. If your hours are cut, ask for the reasons in writing and for evidence of what has changed.

Ask in writing for a review of your care and support plan. The council must review it on a reasonable request. Explain what has changed and which tasks need more time, and include a care diary and any letters from health professionals.

The council can weigh up cost when choosing between options that would all meet your needs. But the guidance says this does not mean choosing the cheapest option, and councils shouldn't set arbitrary upper limits on what they'll pay. The option chosen must still meet your eligible needs.

Does the council have to explain how my personal budget was calculated?#

The guidance says personal budgets should be transparent, timely and sufficient. Councils should share the cost assumptions behind the figure. Ask for a breakdown of the hourly rate and hours used.

How often should my care plan be reviewed?#

The guidance expects a review at least every 12 months, with a light-touch check 6 to 8 weeks after a new plan starts. Reviews should happen sooner if your circumstances change. You can also ask for one at any time.

Complain to the council first and complete its procedure. Then, if you're still unhappy or get no reply within a reasonable time, go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. It's free, but it normally won't consider complaints more than 12 months old.

Can I get an advocate to help with a care assessment or review?#

Yes, if you'd have substantial difficulty being involved and there's no suitable friend or family member to support you. In that case the council must arrange an independent advocate. Ask for one at the start of the process.

Keep reading

Sources

Figures checked against these sources on 6 October 2026. If a rule changes, we update the page and its date.

General information, not personal financial advice. Rules depend on your circumstances; check the official source or speak to a regulated adviser before acting.