The number of filled posts in adult social care is down for the first time on record, highlighting recruitment challenges, a new report has found.

According to the annual report for Skills for Care on the adult social care sector and workforce in England, the number of filled posts decreased by around 3% (50,000) between 2020/21 and 2021/ 22.

This is the only annual decrease since records began in 2012/13. The number of vacant posts has increased by 55,000 (52%) over the same period.

Skills for Care suggests that the decrease in filled posts is due to the sector’s ongoing recruitment and retention difficulties rather than a decrease in demand for care services.

The total number of posts in adult social care in England, including filled posts and staff vacancies, was 1.79m in 2021/22, an increase of 0.3% from the previous year. The number of filled posts was estimated at 1.62m and the number of vacant posts was around 165,000.

Skills for Care said the data suggested independent care providers struggled most with recruitment and retention challenges compared to councils. Between 2020/21 and 2021/22, the majority of the decrease in filled posts was in the independent sector - down by 45,000 -  while filled posts in local authorities remained broadly the same.

In domiciliary care services, the number of filled posts fell by 19,000. Skills for Care said this highlights a real challenge with recruitment and retention for these roles despite an increase in demand for home care.

Skills for Care chief executive Oonagh Smyth says the body's forecast data ‘tells us that we will need a 27% increase in posts in social care by 2035 to continue to maintain the current levels of care and support to people who will need it in the future’.