Local authorities spent £21.2 billion on adult social care in 2020-21, statistics published today by NHS Digital show.
The Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report, England 2020-21 is among five publications which cover topics such as outcomes, activity, finance and the opinions of those receiving care. The reports relate to England and contain figures covering 2020-21.
During that period, gross current expenditure on adult social care by local authorities was £21.2 billion.
However, some of the spending in 2020-21 does not directly relate to people whose care is supported by the local authority and so overall totals are not directly comparable with previous years. The rise in spending also reflects an increase in government funding in 2020-21 specifically to support the adult social care sector during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The other reports published today included:
Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework, England 2020-21
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. This year a reduced number of indicators have been published as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected data availability.
Findings included that the proportion of new clients who received short-term services, where no further request was made for ongoing support, decreased from 79.5% in 2019-20 to 74.9% in 2020-21.
There was also a fall in the proportion of people aged 65 and over who were still at home 91 days after they were discharged from hospital into reablement or rehabilitation services, from 82.0% in 2019-20 to 79.1% in 2020-21.
Figures relating to mental health included that the proportion of women (11%) in contact with secondary mental health services in paid employment is higher than the proportion of males (7%).
The report also looks at adults in contact with secondary mental health services who are living in their own home or with family. The North East region has the highest proportion (69%) while the West Midlands has the lowest (48%).
Personal Social Services Adult Social Care Survey, England 2020-21
This annual survey, 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.
Due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), the 2020-21 survey was voluntary so councils could choose whether or not to participate – 18 councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) took part. Therefore, this year’s publication is presented as Management Information and the findings relate solely to the participating councils, so cannot be compared to previous years.
The survey found that 67.7% of the participating service users were very or extremely satisfied with the care and support they received, while 2.1% were very or extremely dissatisfied with the care and support they received.
Of the service users who reported they feel clean and are able to present themselves in the way they want, 90.5% also reported they have adequate or as much control over their daily life as they want, while 9.5% feel they have no control or some control but not enough.
Among the service users of councils that took part, 34.4% reported they had as much social contact as they wanted with people they like. In contrast, 13.2% reported they had little social contact and felt socially isolated.
For service users with a primary support reason of Learning Disability Support, a higher proportion rate their health in general to be good or very good. Service users primarily receiving physical support have the highest proportion who rate their health in general to be bad or very bad.
Also published today were two other reports – Deferred Payment Agreements 2020-21 and Guardianship under the Mental Health Act, 1983 – 2018-19, 2019-20 & 2020-21.
Key information from some of these publications will be included in the next version of Adult Social Care Statistics in England: An Overview, which brings together information collected by NHS Digital around different aspects of adult social care and covers from 2015-16 to the latest available data.
Statistics from this publication are also accessible through a new interactive data dashboard.
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