Local councils spent £21.2bn on adult social care in 20-21, according to statistics published today by NHS Digital.
The rise in spending does not directly relate to people whose care is supported by the local authority, so overall totals are not directly comparable with previous years.
The rise in spending published in the Adult Care Activity and Finance Report England 2020-21 also reflects an increase in government funding in 2020-21 specifically to support the adult social care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes government grants including the Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund and the Workforce Capacity Fund for adult social care.
The report is one of five publications released by NHS Digital covering topics including outcomes, activity, finance and the opinions of those receiving care and contain figures covering 2020-21. Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework, England 2020-21 found that the proportion of new clients who received short-term services, where no further request was made for ongoing support, decreased from 79.5% in 2019-20 to 74.9% in 2020-21.
There was also a fall in the proportion of people aged 65 and over who were still at home 91 days after they were discharged from hospital into reablement or rehabilitation services, from 82.0% in 2019-20 to 79.1% in 2020-21.
The report also looks at adults in contact with secondary mental health services who are living in their own home or with family. The North East region has the highest proportion (69%) while the West Midlands has the lowest (48%).
The annual Personal Social Services Adult Social Care Survey, England 2020-21 found that 67.7% of the participating service users were very or extremely satisfied with the care and support they received, while 2.1% were very or extremely dissatisfied with the care and support they received.
Among the service users of the 18 councils that took part, 34.4% reported they had as much social contact as they wanted with people they like. In contrast, 13.2% reported they had little social contact and felt socially isolated.
