Crisis in social care as more people seek help and fewer get it

THE social care system in England is at “crisis point”, with more people asking for help but fewer receiving it, according to a report.

The study, from the King’s Fund think tank, found a 2 per cent rise in new requests for adult social care since 2015/16, with 1.84million applications in 2017/18. The study found that fewer people were receiving care, with almost 13,000 fewer people granted help over the same period.

Local council spending on social care has dropped in real terms and is now £700million below what it was in 2010/11.

The study found it was not just older people requesting help, with a rise in the number of adults of working age seeking support as levels of disability rise. Since 2015/16 there has been an increase from 1.31 million to 1.32 million older people requesting help, while among working-age people requests have gone up from just over 500,000 to almost 524,000.

The data shows that more than 7,000 more working-age people are receiving long-term support compared with 2015/16, but there has been a fall of more than 20,000 older people receiving it.

Simon Bottery, senior fellow at the King’s Fund and lead author of the report, said: “This report shows that increasing need among working-age adults, an increasing older population and high levels of existing unmet need are combining to put immense pressure on our care and support system, now and for the future.

“Yet there is little evidence that the Government understands or is willing to act on these trends despite the impact on older and disabled people, their families and carers.

“The social care green paper, which still has no release date over two years after it was announced, is an opportunity to set out the fundamental reform we desperately need. But while the green paper is delayed, the Government must focus on what it can do to support people now.

“Putting more money into the system in this autumn’s spending review would help people to get the help they need while longer-term reform takes effect.”

The analysis found that 18 per cent of working-age people now report a disability, up from 15 per cent in 2010/11.

The proportion of disabled workingage adults reporting mental health conditions has increased significantly from 24 per cent to 36 per cent in the

‘There is little evidence that the Government understands or is willing to act on these trends.’

last five years. These trends are matched by a rise in the number of working-age adults claiming disability benefits.

The report said the drop in the proportion of over-65s getting long-term social care from their local council could partly be due to a freeze since 2010/11 in the amount of assets people can hold and still be eligible for statefunded care.

It warned that unmet need among older people remains high, with 22 per cent saying they need support but do not get it.