Adult social care support continues to stagnate following a lack
of action to reform the sector by successive governments, says
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 extraordinary 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
the historic 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 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.’
ENDS
Notes to editors
Social Care 360 will be published on Wednesday 13 March
2024.
