Performance Tracker 2023: Adult social care (Institute for Government, 30 October 2023)

Summary

This performance tracker produced by the Institute for Government looks at the state of adult social care in 2023. It highlights that although the Government has provided more funding, the sector may struggle to address unmet need in the face of rising costs and competing priorities.

Key findings

• Spending remains well above pre-pandemic levels
• The government continues to rely on a model of ‘crisis-cash-repeat’ for the service
• Without extra funding, reforming the charging model for adult social care in 2023 would have been difficult
• Cost pressures mean that increased funding might not achieve all the government’s objectives
• Vacancy rates are falling, but remain high
• Staff turnover is high in some key roles
• The size of the workforce recovered somewhat in 2022/23
• International recruitment has been crucial in filling vacancies
• Recruitment and retention are hampered by low pay… as well as poor career progression and lack of training
• Requests for support increased after a drop in the first year of the pandemic
• Local authorities have not cleared the assessment backlog
• More people are providing large amounts of unpaid care
• The number of people receiving long-term care rose in 2022/23
• A decline in people receiving long-term support is unlikely to be because other models are working