Local authorities spent 22.0 billion on adult social care in 2021-22, statistics published today by NHS Digital show.
Local authorities spent 22.0 billion on adult social care in 2021-22, statistics published today by NHS Digital show.
The Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report, England 2021-221 is among four publications released today which cover topics such as outcomes, activity, finance and the opinions of those receiving care. The reports relate to England and contain figures covering 2021-222.
During that period, gross current expenditure on adult social care by local authorities was 22.0 billion3, which was up 0.7 billion from the previous year. The findings of the 2021-22 report also show:
- 16.6 billion (75.4%) of the total expenditure went on long term support, an increase of 0.9 billion compared with 2020-21.
- There were almost 2.0 million requests for adult social care support from nearly 1.4 million new service users received by local authorities in 2021-22. This is equivalent to 5,420 requests per day in England, up by 170 requests per day on last year.
- The number of service users receiving long term care has decreased to 818,000, continuing the downward trend in the number of service users receiving long term care since 2015-16. This is mainly driven by a decrease in those aged 65 and over, as well as the continued impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reported by local authorities.
Other reports published today include:
Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework, England 2021-22
This publication draws on a number of data collections and measures how well care and support services achieve the outcomes that matter most to people.
The findings include:
- Fewer females (67.5%) reported feeling as safe as they would like in comparison to male service users (71.5%).
- The proportion of carers who reported having as much social contact as they would like dropped to 28.0% in 2021-22 from 32.5% in 2018-194.
- The North East region was rated highest for quality of life for carers, scoring 7.7 out of 12, compared with the lowest regions London, South West and East Midlands which achieved 7.1.
- For adults in contact with secondary mental health services, the North East region has the highest proportion (44%) who are living in their own home independently or with family, while the West Midlands has the lowest proportion (15%).
Personal Social Services Adult Social Care Survey, England 2021-22
This annual survey5, conducted by councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs), asks service users questions about quality of life, the impact of care and support services and their general health and wellbeing.
The 2021-22 survey reports6:
- 63.9% were very or extremely satisfied with the care and support they received, down from 64.2% in 2019-20. The proportion of service users who were very or extremely dissatisfied with the care and support they received rose to 2.6% from 2.1% in 2019-20.
- Fewer service users (40.6%) felt they have as much social contact as they want with people they like compared with 45.9% in 2019-20. The number who felt they have little social contact and feel socially isolated rose to 8.3% from 6.3% in 2019-20.
- In relation to finding information and advice, 29.1% reported they found this easy, which was down from 31.0% in 2019-20, while 14.2% found it very difficult, which was an increase from 12.1% in 2019-20.
- While the number of service users able to get to all the places they want in their local area remained unchanged at 29.6%, those who do not leave the home increased to 29.1% from 26.5% in 2019-20.
- The number of service users receiving practical help on a regular basis from someone living in their household dropped to 39.6% from 42.3% in 2019-20. The number receiving regular help from someone in another household also decreased to 45.0%, from 48.3% in 2019-20.
Also published today is the Deferred Payment Agreements Report 2021-227
Key information from some of these publications will be included in the next version of , which brings together information collected by NHS Digital around different aspects of adult social care and covers from 2015-16 to the latest available data8.
Statistics from this publication are also accessible through the , where you can access official statistics, dashboards, metadata, data collection information, financial information and guidance documentation.
Read the full reports
Notes for Editors
- The Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report 2021-22 contains data taken from the Adult Social Care Finance Return (ASC-FR) and Short and Long Term (SALT) collection to provide information regarding adult social care activity and finance on local authorities in England for 2021-22. This is the eighth year of the SALT and ASC-FR collections, and the sixth year in which the adult social care activity and finance data have been brought together in an official statistics report. Adult social care activity provided or arranged by local authorities covers a wide range of services including long term and short-term care, plus support to carers.
- The England-level statistics for 2021-22 for all reports have been estimated as a small number of local authorities were not able to submit data.
- Not all spending in 2021-22 directly relates to people whose care is supported by the local authority, making overall totals not directly comparable with previous years. The rise in spending also reflects an increase in government funding between 2020 and 2022 specifically to support the adult social care sector during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This includes government grants such as the and for adult social care. Due to the nature of this support, it is not possible in the data to determine (and therefore exclude) the amount spent on non local authority-supported clients.
- The biennial Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England (SACE) took place in 2021-22 due to the impact of COVID-19 postponing the intended 2020-21 survey by one full year. The survey will continue to take place biennially from 2021-22 onwards. It is important to bear this in mind when considering the time series charts and comparisons. Local authorities reported reasons for the fluctuation since last year includes reduction in requests during the first year of the pandemic period and levels have recovered back to normal, change in recording processes and case management systems, improved reporting, and increased demand for services.
- The survey seeks the opinions of service users aged 18 and over, who are in receipt of long-term support services, which are funded or managed by social services. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the 2020-21 survey was voluntary and councils could choose whether or not to participate. with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) took part in the survey and the data produced was used as management information. The last full, comparable survey was 2019-20.
- When comparing two estimates, where confidence intervals do not overlap, the difference between the estimates can be considered as statistically significant. Statistical tests are used to identify where differences are statistically significant but cannot be used to imply cause and effect. For estimates from our survey data, only statistically significant findings have been presented in this press release. Further information on the statistical tests used is provided in the report's Methodology and Further Information paper.
- A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with the local authority that enables people to use the value of their homes to help pay for care home costs. If eligible, the local authority will help to pay a client's care home bills on their behalf. The client can delay repaying the local authority until they choose to sell their home, or until after their death. This publication provides information on the number and associated monetary value of adult social care deferred payment agreements in England for 2021-22.
- Percentages are rounded to one decimal place where possible; the percentages given for each question may therefore not add up to 100 per cent. The proportions have been calculated by weighting the response data using eligible population figures, to estimate the proportion of the population who hold these views.