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.
