Liverpool City Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 24 September 2025

About Liverpool City Council

Demographics

Liverpool is a city in the north west of England situated at the estuary of the river Mersey. It has a rich heritage in maritime and industrial heritage and is known for its music, art, and football. Liverpool is made up of 64 wards of urban community. It has a population of 503,740.

The Council has an Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) decile of 10 and is the third most deprived area in England. The score consists of mainly high deprivation and some high-income areas.

The population is made up of 49.09% male and 50.91 female. The population is growing but at a rate of 4.2%, lower than the England average of 6.6%. Children and young people make up 17.02% of the population, with 67.72% at working age and 15.26% elderly people. During the next 10 years, the population of Liverpool is predicted to grow by 5.72% and the largest increase is expected in the 65+ population.

Ethnicity in Liverpool is 84.03% White, 3.47% Mixed or multiple ethnic groups, 5.71% Asian or Asian British, 3.30% Other ethnicities, and 3.49% Black, Black British, Caribbean, or African.

Liverpool is part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB), serving 2.7 million people across 17 NHS trusts and 9 local authorities. Life expectancy in Liverpool is below the England average, with females at 79.7 years, compared to England average of 83.0) and males at 75.9 years, compared to the England average of 79.1. Healthy life expectancy is also lower for all genders. Key health scores for the region are as follows: Overall Health Index: 79.9 Healthy Lives: 80.4 Healthy People: 77.4 Healthy Places: 91.6%.

Financial facts

• The local authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £1,067,024,000. Its actual spend for that year was £1,163,905,000, which was £96,881,000 more than estimated.
• The local authority estimated that it would spend £227,798,999 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24 Its actual spend was £246,168,000 which is £18,370,000 more than estimated.
• In 2023/24, 21.15% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through ASC precept varies from local authority to local authority.
• Approximately 9080 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 2545 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2023/24. Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.