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Herefordshire is about to spend £7 million ensuring accommodation is available in nursing and residential care homes in the county in the coming years.

Herefordshire Council says in an invitation to tender that it is looking to secure places at “a range of nursing and residential care homes countywide to ensure we have a sustainable provision of affordable beds throughout the year”.

It says it will make contract awards to one or more successful bidders in each of four geographical areas, “in order to ensure coverage across the county”, providing a total of up to 30 places.

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The contracts with care providers, estimated to be worth £6.82 million, will be for three years from next month, with an option to extend for up to another two.

Herefordshire Council owns and runs+ the 22-bed Hillside Care Centre in the south of Hereford, which focuses on rehabilitation of those leaving hospital.

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Otherwise care, much of it funded by the council, falls to around 85 privately-run registered homes around the county.

Adult social care is one the council’s two biggest areas of spending alongside children’s care, and is expected to amount to around £77 million in the county this financial year – well over one-third of the council’s total budgeted revenue spend.

A council report at the start of this year said spending in this area is under pressure from Herefordshire’s ageing population and the increasing cost and complexity of care, which has meant more people falling below the threshold at which they must pay for their own care.