Why Care Matters

Evidence, ideas and action for specialist social care

Care Matters is a hub for evidence, ideas and action on how good social care can help adults live fulfilling lives with the right support.

It has been established by a group of specialist social care providers who want to celebrate the ambitions and achievements of people who draw on support, recognise the skill and commitment of the people who work alongside them, and encourage a more hopeful and human conversation about social care.

Care Matters provides a place to bring together research, new ideas and personal experience. By exploring what works, what good support makes possible and where things need to change, the hub aims to contribute to a better understanding of social care and shape a brighter future for people who draw on support.

Specialist social care

Specialist social care supports adults with significant, long-term support needs to live fulfilling lives, make choices and do the things that matter to them. It supports people with a wide range of needs, including people with learning disabilities, autistic people, and people with mental health conditions, brain injuries, addiction, or complex physical and sensory disabilities.ç

Most people who draw on specialist social care are of working age, although support is shaped by a person’s needs rather than their age. People are supported in a range of settings, with many living in their own homes through supported living or in small-scale residential services.

Key facts about the sector:

  • The UK market was worth £19 billion in 2024/25, with England accounting for £15.2 billion, and more than 750,000 adults receiving support

  • Learning disabilities and autism dominate expenditure, at £8.8 billion in England alone

  • Funding is overwhelmingly public: 81% from local authorities and 14% from the NHS, with only 5% from private payers

  • The independent sector provides over 90% of provision. Operating margins in the sector have fallen from 27% pre-austerity to 15% in 2024

  • Demand for services is growing. 8% more working-age disabled people will need support in 2033 than 2023

About our founders

Choice Care, ivolve Care & Support and Voyage Care together support nearly 6,000 people and employ over 17,000 colleagues. They specialise in supporting adults of working age – including people with learning disabilities, autism, brain injuries and other complex needs – to live the lives they choose in homes and communities across the UK.

Their care is provided in homes and flats up and down the country. The people they support have the right to pop to the shop, jump on the bus or go to college, like any other neighbour. Colleagues bring a deep understanding of the people they support and the ability to knit together the input of GPs, healthcare professionals, social workers and education and employment services around them.