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Care in Crisis 2012 report reveals £500m funding gap

30 January 2012

This is Age UK’s second report detailing the depth of the care funding crisis, and is part of their campaign to put pressure on the Government to reform adult social care.

Key Findings

Their report has found that the widening funding gap has led to a reduction in service provision, increasing charges levied by councils for their services and less older people receiving the support they need. For example, the total hours of care support that local authorities purchased for older people fell from £2 million to £1.85 million in 2009-10.

Other key findings contained in the report include:

Many older people do not receive any support at all: Today of the 2 million older people in England with care-related needs, nearly 800,000 do not receive any formal support.
Not enough money is being spent on older peoples’ care: Since 2004 the number of people aged over 85, who are most likely to need care and support, has increased by over 250,000.
Councils have cut back on their service provision: In 2009-10 the total hours of support purchased by local authorities for older people fell from 2 million to 1.85 million.
Charges for care provision are increasing: Every older person using local authority care services is now being charged £150 per year more in real terms in 2010-11 than in 2009-10, and £360 more than 2008-09.

Link - Age UK Care in Crisis 2012 report