Latest News
Where you live can shape your experience of social care
August 11, 2026
New Care and Support Alliance analysis reveals huge differences in what happens when people ask their council for care and support. We’ve written to council leaders across England asking them to help turn local concern into national action.
Our latest analysis shows that in one part of England, just 3 in 10 requests for care do not lead to formal support within three months. In another, it is more than 9 in 10.
The findings are part of the latest update to our Show Us You Care local data tool, which brings together information about the pressures facing adult social care in communities across England.
Simply enter your postcode to see what social care looks like where you live.
A postcode lottery in social care
The data shows significant variation across England – both between regions and between councils within the same region.
The East Midlands and South East have the highest regional rates, with three quarters (75%) of requests not leading to formal support within three months.
In the West Midlands, the figure is lower at 62% – but that still means almost two in every three requests do not lead to formal support within three months.
The differences within regions are even more striking.
In London, rates range from 30% in one borough to 91% in another – a gap of 61 percentage points.
Significant variation can be seen in every region. Even in the North East, where the gap is smallest, rates range from 46% to 76%.
There are many reasons why recorded outcomes may differ between areas. Councils face different levels of demand and deprivation, workforce pressures and challenges in their local care markets. Their ability to raise income locally also varies, while national funding has not always kept pace with changes in local populations and levels of need.
But differences on this scale raise important questions about fairness.
People should be able to get the care and support they need based on their needs – not their postcode.
We’re calling on council leaders to help make change happen
The figures show what people experience locally – but the solutions cannot come from individual councils alone.
That’s why we’ve written to council leaders across England, sharing data about the pressures facing social care in their own area and asking them to add their voices to the call for national reform.
Each leader has received local figures showing the number of requests for care, how many resulted in no formal support within three months, workforce vacancies, levels of unpaid care and delayed hospital discharges.
Our message to council leaders is simple: this is a local issue that needs a national solution.
Councils are dealing with rising demand, increasingly complex needs, workforce shortages and growing costs. Strong local leadership is vital, but councils cannot overcome years of underinvestment or fix an unsustainable national system one council at a time.
We’re asking council leaders to:
- champion the case for long-term social care reform
- use their influence within their communities, local government and political parties to help build broad political support for change
- encourage local people and organisations to take part in the Big Conversation on Care
- work with us to make the case for a fair and sustainable care and support system.
We’ve also offered to meet council leaders to discuss the challenges facing social care in their area and how we can work together to build support for reform.
“It should depend on your needs – not your postcode”
Caroline Abrahams CBE, Emily Holzhausen CBE and Jackie O’Sullivan, Co-Chairs of the Care and Support Alliance, said:
“Council leaders know better than most the enormous pressures facing social care. Every day, councils are trying to balance rising demand, increasingly complex needs and growing costs against budgets that simply have not kept pace.
“The result is a system in which people’s experiences of seeking care and support can look dramatically different depending on where they live.
“Whether someone receives the care and support they need should depend on their needs – not their postcode.
“But this is not a problem councils can solve on their own. Local leaders cannot be expected to overcome years of underinvestment or fix a fundamentally unsustainable system one council at a time.
“The only way to tackle this unfairness is through national action, backed by sustainable funding that enables every council to provide the care and support its community needs.”
A real opportunity to change social care
This comes at an important moment for the future of adult social care.
The Government has accelerated the Casey Commission on Adult Social Care, with its final report now expected in summer 2027, and committed to working across political parties to develop a long-term settlement.
At the same time, the Big Conversation on Care gives people across the country the opportunity to help shape what a modern care and support system should look like – and how it should be funded.
After decades of delay, there is an opportunity to build the political and public support needed to deliver lasting reform.
Council leaders have an important part to play. So do people who draw on care and support, unpaid carers, charities, communities and politicians from across the political spectrum.
Social care is delivered locally. But fixing it requires national action.
What does social care look like where you live?
Our Show Us You Care local data tool helps you understand some of the pressures facing adult social care in your area.
Enter your postcode to find local information about:
- requests for care and support and their recorded outcomes
- adult social care workforce vacancies
- the number of people providing 20 or more hours of unpaid care each week
- delayed hospital discharges.
A note about the data
The Show Us You Care tool draws on workforce data from Skills for Care, unpaid care data from the 2021 Census, NHS delayed discharge data and support recorded by the Department of Health and Social Care. For more information about sources and methodology, please visit the ‘About the data’ section on our social care data dashboard.
CSA writes to new Prime Minister urging action on social care
July 21, 2026
The Care and Support Alliance (CSA) has written to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, urging him to seize the opportunity to finally deliver lasting reform of adult social care.
In the letter, the CSA’s co-chairs welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to make social care a priority and his determination to stop successive governments “kicking the can down the road” on reform.
The letter highlights the urgent challenges facing older people, disabled people and unpaid carers who are struggling to get the care and support they need, as well as the wider consequences for families, the NHS, local government and the economy.
The CSA is calling on the new Government to build on Baroness Casey’s Independent Commission on Adult Social Care and the forthcoming National Conversation, working across political parties and with people who draw on care, unpaid carers and the wider sector to build a fair, sustainable and properly funded care and support system.
With a new Prime Minister in office and renewed political focus on social care, the CSA believes there is a real opportunity to turn ambition into action and finally deliver the change millions of people have waited too long to see.
DHSC announces next steps towards Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care
July 16, 2026
The Government has announced the next steps towards introducing the first-ever Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care in England, alongside an expanded Care Workforce Pathway.
Under the plans, a new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will bring together employers and trade unions to negotiate pay, terms and conditions for the sector, with the first agreement expected to come into effect from April 2028. The Government has committed £500 million to support the first agreement and says the reforms will help recruit and retain care workers while supporting its ambition to create a National Care Service.
Responding to the announcement, CSA Co-Chairs Emily Holzhausen and Jackie O’Sullivan said:
“We welcome this as an important step towards giving care workers the recognition, voice and reward they deserve. For too long, the people who keep our care system going have been undervalued despite carrying out highly skilled and vital work.
“But a Fair Pay Agreement will only succeed if it is properly funded. Care providers and councils cannot be expected to absorb the cost of higher pay without risking fewer services for the people who rely on them. While the government’s £500 million commitment is welcome, spread across a workforce of 1.5 million people it is equivalent to around 17p an hour for a full-time care worker. Nor should the costs simply be passed on to people who fund their own care and their families, particularly when the government’s own assessment suggests they are likely to be disproportionately affected. Many are already grappling with rising fees driven by increases in the National Minimum Wage, employers’ National Insurance contributions, inflation and higher energy and food costs.
“Today’s announcement must also be part of something bigger. Better pay alone will not fix a system where too many older people, disabled people and unpaid carers still cannot get the care and support they need.
“With Baroness Casey’s Commission underway and a new Prime Minister in office, there is a genuine opportunity to build on today’s announcement as part of the wider reform our care system so urgently needs. We look forward to working with government to ensure workforce reforms are matched by the long-term changes needed to create a care and support system that is sustainable, properly funded and delivers high-quality support for everyone who needs it.”
CSA responds to ADASS Spring Survey 2026
July 15, 2026
The ADASS Spring Survey, published 14 July 2026, warns that councils face an overspend of £715 million on adult social care.
In response, a CSA spokesperson said:
“A projected £715 million overspend on adult social care is a stark warning that the current system is not sustainable. As more people need support, councils are being forced to make increasingly difficult decisions with resources that simply haven’t kept pace with demand. The result is that too many older people, disabled people and unpaid carers are left waiting, struggling to cope, or going without the support that could help them stay independent.
“The survey underlines that this is about much more than local government finances. Whether it’s people waiting months for help, disputes over NHS Continuing Healthcare, growing pressures on mental health services or families providing ever greater levels of unpaid care, these are all symptoms of a system that no longer works as it should.
“There is now a genuine opportunity to change course. With a new Prime Minister taking office and Baroness Casey’s Commission underway, this must be the moment to move beyond managing today’s pressures and start building the care and support system the country needs for the future. We hope the new Government will seize this moment, work cross-party and to deliver the lasting reform that has been promised for far too long.”
CSA responds to Government’s Unpaid Carers Action Plan
July 14, 2026
The Government has today published its Unpaid Carers Action Plan, setting out a cross-government programme of work to better recognise unpaid carers, improve access to information and support, and help carers remain connected to work, education and their communities.
The Action Plan focuses on three priorities – Recognise, Refer and Reach – and includes measures to improve the identification of unpaid carers across public services, strengthen signposting to support, and build on wider work to improve employment rights for carers.
Responding to the publication of the Government’s Unpaid Carers Action Plan, CSA Co-chairs Caroline Abrahams, Emily Holzhausen and Jackie O’Sullivan said:
“The Government’s new cross-government Action Plan is an important recognition of the vital role millions of unpaid carers play every day. Improving how carers are identified, referred to support and helped to remain connected to work and their communities are all important and necessary steps.
“But recognition alone is not enough. Every day, millions of unpaid carers continue to fill the gaps left by an overstretched social care system, often at significant cost to their own health, finances and wellbeing. Too many are forced to reduce their hours at work, give up employment altogether or reach breaking point because the care and support their loved one needs simply isn’t available.
“The commitments to improve the identification of carers across public services and strengthen employment rights have the potential to make a real difference. However, they must sit alongside wider reform of adult social care. Unpaid carers cannot continue to shoulder ever greater responsibilities because formal care is unavailable, delayed or simply doesn’t exist.
“As Baroness Casey has recognised, unpaid carers are too often left acting as unpaid project managers of a fragmented system. The Casey Commission provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change that. We urge the Government to build on today’s announcement by delivering a sustainable, long-term settlement for adult social care that ensures carers receive the practical support, respite and services they need.
“Most of us will either need care ourselves or care for someone we love during our lifetime. Supporting unpaid carers is not only the right thing to do – it is essential to building a fair, sustainable care system for the future.”
