Sheffield City Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 21 January 2026

About Sheffield City Council

Demographics

Sheffield City Council is a unitary authority and is recognised as a diverse city with 573,252 people calling it home. Sheffield is England’s fourth largest city with the population projected to rise to 648,419 by 2043. It has two universities, with a slightly younger working-age population (63.2% vs 61.5% nationally) and a lower proportion of older adults (16.9% vs 18%). Around 86% of international students are from outside the EU, with overseas students accounting for 26% of Sheffield University’s total student population.

Sheffield is ranked 66 out of 153 local authorities (with 1 being the most deprived and 153 being the least deprived). The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) score is 6 (10 is the most deprived). Life expectancy varies by over a decade between the most and least deprived areas. Deprivation is concentrated in eastern wards, while western areas are the least deprived.

Sheffield has some ethnic diversity: 79.1% identify as white (81.7% nationally), with Asian or Asian British (9.6%), Black (4.6%), and mixed or other ethnic groups. Diversity is concentrated in wards such as Darnall and Burngreave, while others remain less diverse. The city also has established Roma, Somali, Yemeni, and Eastern European communities, and a growing LGBTQIA+ population.

There are approximately 60,000 unpaid carers (1 in 10 residents), including 7,000 young carers, with around 20,000 people starting or stopping caring each year.

Sheffield City Council worked with South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board at a Sheffield place level, with section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 and Better Care Fund agreements. Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Trust provided acute and community health services, and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Trust provided mental health and learning disability health services.

Since 2022, Sheffield has a committee governance model comprising of elected members across all 3 biggest political groups in Sheffield: Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Green party.

Financial facts

The Financial facts for Sheffield City Council are:

• The local authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £937,830,000.00 Its actual spend for that year was £1,032,913,000.00 which was £95,083.00 more than estimated.
• The local authority estimated that it would spend £243,893,000.00 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24 Its actual spend was £271,036,000.00 which is £27,143,000.00 more than estimated.
• In 2023/24, 26.24% 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 10265 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 2730 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.