SOCIAL care costs on councils for working age and lifelong disabled adults could top £17 billion by 2030, it is estimated.

The group makes up around 40 per cent of all adult social care service-users, but 63 per cent of council budgets went towards their care in the year to March, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.

Costs of such care have risen sharply in recent years, CCN said, driven by the complexity and type of care rather than more people needing support.