Social care

Councils aren’t getting enough funding to meet demand for social care

Experts say councils will increasingly have to cut funding from other areas to meet the demand.

Social care: what’s the situation?

The number of people receiving adult social care from their local council fell by around 425,000 between 2009/10 and 2013/14.

Health and social care: What do we spend?

We spent almost £150 billion on healthcare across the UK in 2016/17 and a further £31 billion on social care for adults and children.

People who look after people tend to be women on low pay

More women work in occupations that tend to offer lower salaries such as administration and caring.

Emergency admissions to hospitals from care homes are up 62%

Emergency admissions to hospital from care homes are rising faster than emergency admissions overall in England.

More people, more (NHS) problems?

Both the UK’s population and average life expectancy has increased since the founding of the NHS.

How much is spent on health and social care in the NHS?

Around 83% of English acute hospital trusts are in deficit so far this year. Social care spending has also fallen by £1.3 billion since 2010.

Adult social care in England

Adult social care is the support provided to adults with physical or learning disabilities, or physical or mental illnesses.

What is the “dementia tax”?

We answer questions on the Conservatives’ proposals.

Green Party Manifesto: Social care

Is there a social care crisis because of under-investment?

Will there be a cap on social care costs?

Following the launch of the Conservative manifesto the Prime Minister has said the party intends to consult on a cap on adult social care costs in England. There are no details yet on what the cap might look like.

Are the most significant council budget cuts in deprived areas?

Councils that are most dependent on government grants have seen their budgets reduced by more than other councils over the last seven years.

What might people have to pay for their social care?

Plans announced in the Conservative manifesto included no limit to the amount people pay for adult social care. However, since then the Prime Minister has said there will be a cap on the amount people will have to pay.

Conservative Manifesto: Adult social care

We've factchecked claims from Theresa May's speech at the Conservative party manifesto launch.

The adult social care spending gap

There isn’t a single estimate for the size of the adult social care spending gap in England.

Are there one million older people unable to look after themselves?

There were 1.2 million over 65s who experienced difficulty with basic tasks such as eating and washing, according to Age UK.

Where does councils' money come from to pay for adult social care?

Public spending on social care in England isn’t allocated in the same way that spending on something like health is.

Council tax and social care: explaining your bill

We looked at the changes in how councils can collect money for social care and how this affects your tax bill.

Trade-offs: local councils face choices about adult social care funding

Councils were given an extra £2 billion in the Spring Budget 2017. But they might use it to free up funding for other services.

Social care and hospital delays

20 councils accounted for 50% of the discharges delayed due to social care in November 2016. 24 councils accounted for around 50% of delays due to any reason.

How much can councils raise to pay for social care?

Councils are being allowed to increase council tax by 3% next year to pay for social care, but how does that impact different councils?

Delayed transfers of care: does geography matter?

There seems to be a 20 fold difference in delayed discharges from hospital between the best and worst performing councils. We’ve asked the Department of Health for more information.

Social care funding

The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition clashed over social care spending at PMQs today. We’ve investigated.