There are more requests for publicly-funded social care in
England than ever before, yet the number of people receiving it
continues to fall, finds a new report from The King’s Fund.
The latest figures show that requests for support from both older
people, and particularly working age adults, have increased
significantly to around 1.98 million. Yet the number of
people receiving long-term care has fallen to 818,000 in 2021/22,
a 55,000 drop from 2015/16. Older people have been worst
affected, with numbers receiving long-term care down to 529,000
in 2021/22– a fall of 23,000 in just one year.
The authors of Social Care 360 say the most likely
reason for this long-term trend of falling receipt of care,
despite increasing demand, is the financial challenges facing
local authorities, who pay for publicly-funded social care. The
cost of commissioning care is also rising.
The report shows that requests for adult social care had been
steadily rising since 2015 but then sharply fell in 2020/21, most
likely reflecting a reluctance for people to come forward for
services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Requests have now bounced
back to reach an all-time high.
The total number of new requests for support increased from 1.92
million adults in 2020/21 to 1.98 million in 2021/22. The number
of new requests from working-age adults increased from 578,000 in
2020/21 to 612,000 in 2021/22 (5.8 per cent). Requests from
people aged 65 and over increased from 1.34 million in 2020/21 to
1.37 million in 2021/22 (2.2 per cent).
The authors say the increase in requests from working age adults
is likely to reflect increasing disability among adults aged
18-64. In 2020/21, 21 per cent of people in this age range
who requested support reported living with a disability, compared
with 18 per cent in 2015/16 and 15 per cent in 2010/11. Among
older people, prevalence of disability has, if anything, fallen
but balancing this has been an increasing number of older people
in the population.
Simon Bottery, Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund and lead author
of the report said: ‘It’s likely that local authorities will see
the number of new requests for adult social care pass the two
million mark for the first time this year but, on current trends,
fewer people will end up receiving long-term support. That means
that more people will have to pay themselves, rely on family and
friends – or go without care entirely.’
The report also shows that staff vacancies in the social care
sector are now the highest since records began. Between 2020/21
and 2021/22, the number of vacancies in adult social care rose
from 110,000 to 165,000. However, while care-worker pay continues
to rise due to increases in the statutory minimum wage, it
struggles to compete with other sectors. Most services are
commissioned by the local authority but provided by private
sector or charitable organisations and average care-worker pay in
these organisations in 2021/22 was £9.66 an hour, an increase of
3.5 per cent in real terms since 2020/21.
Simon Bottery explained: ‘Social care providers continue to face
a crisis in recruitment. Vacancy rates in adult social care are
higher than in the NHS and much higher than in other areas of the
economy such as retail, education, and manufacturing. A critical
factor in recruitment is pay: around half of all care workers
would be better off in entry level roles in England’s
supermarkets.’
The report identifies a number of other key trends:
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Local authorities are paying more for care home places
and home care. In real terms, the average weekly fee
paid by local authorities in England for care homes places for
working-age adults rose by 2.5 per cent, to £1,428 in 2021/22.
The average weekly fee for older people’s care home places
increased 2.6 per cent to £767. The average hourly rate for
externally commissioned home care rose 2.9 per cent to
£18.88.
-
Total expenditure in 2021/22 was £2.6
billion more in real terms than in 2010/11 but
this reflects short-term, Covid-related funding – some
expenditure in 2020/21 and 2021/22 was on support for the
social care sector rather than individuals’ care and totals are
not comparable with previous years.
-
The number of unpaid carers receiving direct support
from local authorities fell from 338,000 in 2020/21 to 314,000
in 2021/22. The number of carers receiving support has
not increased since 2015/16 and fewer of them now receive paid
support such as cash payments. The number of people provided
with respite care has also fallen, from 57,000 in 2015/16 to
33,000 in 2021/22.
Simon Bottery added: ‘The report shows that many of the critical
indicators for adult social care are going in the wrong direction
yet the government’s main reforms, such as the introduction of a
cap on lifetime care costs, have now been postponed until 2025
and there is little action so far on critical issues such as
workforce and carers. The government has an opportunity to move
from words to action in its reform plan, promised for the Spring.
‘There is an urgent need for more funding and fundamental reform
of a publicly-funded social care system from which so many people
are shut out.’
