OVER £22.6 million in government funding for social care is nearly two months overdue and may not arrive at all, a charity warned today.

Introduced in 2023, the government’s Accelerating Reform Fund committed £42.6m over two years towards scaling adult social care and supporting unpaid carers.

But the Carers Trust says that the second of the £22.6m tranche has still not been allocated, despite being due for payment in August. 

The charity says that it has not had any indication on when the funding will come, or even confirmation that it will be paid at all.

Carers Trust policy and practice manager Andy McGowan said: “The UK’s six million unpaid carers are struggling and in desperate need of more identification and support. 

“Without this money, more than 100 crucial projects could be scrapped.

“The timing would be catastrophic, coming just as we enter the winter months when pressure on social care and carers is so acute.”