Last Updated on March 13, 2024

Adult social care support continues to stagnate following a lack of action to reform the sector by successive governments. This is according to the The King’s Fund following the publication of its annual social care report.

Social Care 360 highlights that adult requests for social care have hit a record high of two million and that across the sector, the key measures all point towards a social care system that is under intense pressure.

The trends for 2022/23 show that:

• Financial eligibility continues to tighten, with financial thresholds for help with the costs of care not having changed since 2010/11.
• The cost to local authorities of purchasing care continues to increase faster than inflation – since 2015/16, the average weekly fee for working-age adults increased from £1,400 to £1,540, the average weekly fee paid for older people increased from £670 to £840, and the average hourly rate for home care increased from £17.50 to £20.60 (in real terms – taking inflation into account).
• The social care workforce vacancy rate is still at its second highest-ever level, despite the arrival of around 70,000 overseas workers.
• There are approximately 19,000 fewer unpaid carers receiving direct support than in 2015/16, and 21,000 fewer people receiving respite care, over the same period.

The authors note that while the latest data does show a slight increase in the number of adults receiving publicly funded social care support compared to 2021/22, this upturn is likely largely due to a ‘correction’ after the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to 2015/16 there are still 11% more people asking for support and 2% fewer people receiving it.

Equally, although the number of social care vacancies fell from a high of 165,000 in 2021/22 to 152,000 in 2022/23, this was driven by a sharp increase in the number of overseas staff recruited to work in adult social care. Since then, the Government have announced a tightening of the rules affecting overseas care workers meaning they will not be allowed to bring dependents with them to the UK.

The King’s Fund argues that, if the next Government wants to ‘fix’ social care it will need to increase funding to enable care providers to attract, retain and train staff and implement reforms to make the system fairer and improve quality and outcomes for the users of services and their carers.

Simon Bottery, Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund and lead author of the report, said, 'For decades social care reform has been promised by governments but consistently dodged or delayed. The latest figures make clear that the sector is showing little sign of improvement, leaving thousands of people without the support they need.

'There are severe financial pressures on local authorities, who fund adult social care, and no sign that national Government will step in to help. Nor is there a credible longer-term plan to recruit and retain the staff needed.

'At a time when adult social care has never faced more profound problems, with record numbers of people requesting support, this is surely the time for the next Government, whatever colour it may be, to make social care a priority.'

In response to the report, Anna Hemmings, joint Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), said, 'This report shows why it’s time to act on social care – jobs left unfilled, long waits to get care and fewer people eligible for support. Social care should be there for all of us when we need help, our mums, dads, siblings and wider family and friends. Without serious long-term investment and reform that’s not possible.

'There’s no quick fix, but we published a roadmap last year on how we can build the care system we all deserve over the next ten years. Social care leaders are calling on the Government to focus on three areas to stabilise the system and start to deliver that change: a fair deal to attract more people to work in care and build a career in the profession, better support for unpaid carers and start the shift to more care closer to home, to prevent people getting to crisis point and needing more expensive hospital or residential care. Together we can build a social care system that’s here for all of our families, when we need it.'

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said, 'The Spring Budget was the Government’s last chance saloon to make good on their five-year-old promise to fix social care. The findings in this report show just how urgent Government action truly is.

'Earlier this year, Care England and the national learning disability charity, Hft, found that unsustainable financial and workforce pressures are forcing adult social care providers to turn down new admissions and close services, as Government grants are not reaching the people who need them most.

'The sector finds itself in a worsening crisis amid the Government’s narrative of ‘record investment’ into the sector. The cost of providing care is rising, the needs of the population are growing and the vacancy rate in the sector is at its second highest level ever.

'Social care has become a political football, leaving care providers and local authorities alike having to make difficult decisions about how to sustain care for those in need. It is unclear just how many more reports it will take to spur the Government into action, but it feels like time is running out.'

To read the report in full, visit The King's Fund website.

In other news, the Government has confirmed that it will increase the rate of NHS-funded nursing care by 7.4% for 2024 to 2025.