This report analyses the provision of, and spending on, ‘localised social security’ (by which we mean support controlled by local authorities). This remains a small part of the overall system – spending on localised support represented 1.2 per cent of overall social security spending in 2024-25 – but it is now 122-times higher in real terms than it was in 2010-11.

The report goes on to consider when delivering support locally is an appropriate and effective alternative to delivering support at a national level, and how the current range of localised support – the vast majority of which is done by English local authorities – meets these principles.