County council leaders have warned that a predicted £4.3bn black hole in adult social care funding will hit them more than other authorities.

Speaking after figures were published by the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services as the National Children and Adult Services Conference started in Manchester, the County Councils Network’s (CCN) care spokesman and Kent CC leader, Cllr Paul Carter, said the predicted shortfall will ‘disproportionately affect CCN member councils due to our exceptional geographies, ageing populations and existing unfairness in funding arrangements’.