ADULT social care is “on the precipice” when it comes to costs, the largest representative body for independent providers in England warned today.

More than two in five providers (42 per cent) were forced to permanently close a part of their organisation or hand back contracts to local authorities last year due to financial pressures, Care England’s annual report found.

A whopping 82 per cent were either in deficit or saw a decrease in their surplus, with spiralling utility costs and workforce pay among the most significant cost pressures, despite low wages being considered the “biggest barrier to recruitment and retention,” the study revealed.