County Spotlight - Adult social care

This County Spotlight report showcases best practice and innovation in one of the most prominent – but under pressure – local authority services.

It contains 16 case studies in adult social care services, profiling work carried out to improve prevention and ensure people remain independent, how workforce pressures are being addressed, and how county and unitary councils are deploying the last technology to modernise services.

The report shows that while funding challenges remain acute, particularly as adult social care now accounts for almost half of county budgets, councils are finding new ways to enhance independence, reduce pressure on the NHS and adopt technology to improve care delivery.

We stress the need for sustainable long‑term reform, but demonstrates that counties are already leading progress in prevention, community‑based care, workforce retention and digital transformation.

Local authorities in England saw 1.97m requests from people for social care services in 2021-22 – which is an average of 5,402 requests a day for each council.  

This is a rise of 65,000 individuals compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2020. As we head into the winter period, councils say demand shows no sign of abating. In total, 85% of the rise in new requests (55,000) came from people living in England’s county and rural areas.  

Recommendations to government include:  

• Provide fair, long‑term and sustainable funding reflecting rising demand and demographic pressures in county areas. Support councils to expand preventative and community‑based care, reducing reliance on residential placements.
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• Invest in workforce recruitment, retention and development, including career progression and international recruitment.
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• Enable deeper integration between health and social care, especially to improve hospital discharge and data‑sharing.
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• Accelerate investment in digital transformation and assistive technologies to improve independence and reduce system pressures.
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• Ensure councils retain flexibility over funding use so they can respond to local needs and stabilise care markets.