The pressures may worsen after Essex County Council is disbanded and new, smaller unitary councils take on the responsibility locally.
Essex has seen one of the highest increases in people receiving council-funded long-term adult social care support.
This raises concerns about how it will be paid for after the council reorganisation.
The council has said the 13 per cent increase in a year is due to the way new data is being used.
However, the council has said that, nonetheless, because of the make-up of its communities, the service costs more in some areas of the county—the northeast of Essex, for example, where many older people have retired—than others.
Essex County Council leader, Kevin Bentley, said: “It is demand-led and, because of the make-up of our communities, costs more in some areas of the county than others.
“If we create too many new councils, that balance might be tipped.
“That’s because the more new councils we create, the more it costs you.
“And if there are too many new councils, the less money there would be for important services like adult social care.”
