Local authority leaders have warned that this will be ‘one of their toughest winters yet’ as the number of requests for care reaches almost two million.

Local authorities in England saw 1.97 million requests from people for social care services in 2021-22, which is an average of 5,402 requests a day for each council. This is a rise of 65,000 individuals compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2020.

The analysis by the County Councils Network (CCN) shows 55,000 (85%) of the rise in new requests came from people living in England’s county and rural areas.

The CCN says health and social care services face a perfect storm of post-pandemic demand for care services, including requests for short-term care packages and community care, care providers closing down, and wider pressure on the NHS.

It comes as these councils await to find out their allocations of £2.3bn of additional funding next year announced by the Chancellor for care services in the Autumn Budget, with the Government expected to place conditions on how councils spend some of the money.

Cllr Martin Tett, Adult Social Care spokesperson for the CCN, said: ‘The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement provided vital funding for local authorities, but the scale of the challenge facing the health and social care system means that were still facing one of our toughest winters yet.

‘Figures show that demand for social care services continues to rise – with the number of requests almost totalling two million. Add in a further decline of social care beds this year, inflationary cost pressures, and longer hospital discharge times and you have a perfect storm of pressures on the system.

‘We will be doing all we can, working in close collaboration with our health partners, to ensure that pressure on local health systems are kept to a minimum and that people are not waiting too long for a care package. The delay to social care reforms, and the additional funding provided by the Chancellor, gives us a fighting chance, but there is no doubt significant challenges remain.

‘With new reporting requirements and grant conditions in relation to the new adult social care grant and the Better Care Fund expected, we would urge the government to minimise conditions to ensure this funding can be used flexibility to meet the most acute pressures across both social care and the health service.’