The number of adult social care staff employed by councils has fallen by 25% over the past five years, according to new figures.
The report, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), shows that the number of adult social services jobs in local government has fallen from 159,400 in 2011 to 120,200 in 2015.
Personal Social Services: Staff of Social Services Departments, England, as at September 2015 identified restructuring as the main reason for the reduction in jobs, followed by outsourcing and redundancies.
Responsible statistician, Stephen Jobling, said: ‘Today’s report shows that the number of jobs in adult social services based in councils continues to fall. Compared to the previous year, almost half of councils (65 of 152, or 43%) saw a reduction of more than five per cent of social care jobs in 2015. For some councils though, the picture is somewhat different, with 27 councils seeing council-based jobs increase by more than five per cent.’
The report also shows the majority (82%) of adult social services jobs were carried out by female workers in 2015, which remains unchanged since 2011.
