Social care · Access and eligibility · England · 2024–25

Who asks for social care, and who gets it?

Councils in England received 2.02 million requests from people new to adult social care in 2024–25. 6% led to long-term support and 19% to short-term help; most ended with advice or signposting. Separately, 24% of over-65s living at home report some unmet need for personal care.

Evidence last reviewed 3 October 2026

What happens to requests

What happens when someone new asks their council for care?

Most requests end in information, advice or signposting; 6% lead to long-term care

Requests for support from people new to adult social care, by outcome within three months, England, 2024–25, thousands of requests.

England · 2024–25

Councils received 2.02 million requests from people new to social care. 71% resulted in no further action, 19% in short-term support such as reablement and 6% in long-term support. Requests from over-65s more often led to services. This is not a funnel of matched cohorts and says nothing on its own about whether eligibility is set at the right level.

England · 2024–25 · Official statistics in development

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: England — Requests from adults not receiving long-term support in the previous three months
Measure:: Thousands of requests
Period:: 2024–25
Status:: Official statistics in development
Calculation:: “Other or unknown” = total minus the three published outcome groups (UK Facts calculation); it includes, for example, hospital admission and outcomes that could not be determined.
Compare with:: None: DHSC says these request statistics cannot be compared with earlier SALT years
Not included / breaks:: “No further action” mainly means no council service was provided — including information and advice, or signposting to other services. It does not show whether a need was met elsewhere. A person can make several requests.

Source: DHSC, Adult social care activity report, England: 2024 to 2025, Commentary section 1; Table 9 (released 23 October 2025, updated 16 June 2026). Chart CARE-03.

View the data as a table

Outcome	Requests	Share
No further action	1,440,000	71%
Short-term support	390,000	19%
Long-term support	130,000	6%
Other or unknown	60,000	3%

79% of requests came from the community — people themselves, families or GPs — and 17% (335,000) at the point of discharge from hospital, rising to 22% for people aged 65 and over. Over-65s made 1.30 million requests and 18–64-year-olds 665,000. There were 244,000 episodes of short-term reablement for new clients.

Long-term support is the one measure with a consistent history: 672,000 people were receiving it on 31 March 2025, against 657,000 in 2015. Of those supported throughout the year, 59% had their care plan reviewed.

Where requests come from

Do older people ask for care at the same rate everywhere?

Requests from over-65s range from 9,710 to 13,310 per 100,000 across regions

Requests for support from new clients aged 65 and over per 100,000 people aged 65 and over, English regions, 2024–25.

English regions · 2024–25

Requests per 100,000 people aged 65+England (11,855)

North West13,310
West Midlands12,915
London12,800
North East12,215
East Midlands12,140
East of England12,000
Yorkshire and the Humber11,385
South East10,970
South West9,710

The North West records the most requests relative to its older population and the South West the fewest. Differences of this size can come from recording practice as well as need, so this is a prompt for questions rather than a ranking of councils.

English regions · 2024–25 · Official statistics in development

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: English regions — People aged 65 and over (ONS mid-2024 population estimates)
Measure:: Requests per 100,000 people aged 65+
Period:: 2024–25
Status:: Official statistics in development
Calculation:: As published.
Compare with:: England: 11,855 per 100,000
Not included / breaks:: DHSC warns that regional differences may reflect how councils record requests, not only need. Not age-standardised within the 65+ group.

Source: DHSC, Adult social care activity report, England: 2024 to 2025, Commentary Table 2; data Table 12 (released 23 October 2025, updated 16 June 2026). Chart CARE-04.

View the data as a table

Region	Requests per 100,000 aged 65+
North West	13,310
West Midlands	12,915
London	12,800
North East	12,215
East Midlands	12,140
East of England	12,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	11,385
South East	10,970
South West	9,710

Eligibility: two tests

Under the Care Act 2014, councils first assess needs against national eligibility criteria: whether a person cannot achieve two or more everyday outcomes — such as washing, dressing, eating or maintaining a home — and whether that significantly affects their wellbeing. They then assess finances. People with savings and assets above the upper capital limit usually pay the full cost of their care; below it, councils contribute and people pay what the means test says they can afford. Short-term reablement is free for up to six weeks.

A request that ends in “no further action” can mean the person was given information or pointed to a voluntary service, did not meet the criteria, arranged care privately, or died. The statistics do not separate unmet need from need met elsewhere.

Unmet need: a survey measure

The Health Survey for England asks adults aged 65 and over living at home about thirteen daily activities. In 2024, 66% needed no help with any of them. 13% had received help with at least one personal-care task (an “activity of daily living”, such as bathing, dressing or using the toilet) in the last month, while 24% reported some unmet need for help with one — 27% of women and 21% of men. 16% had unmet need with wider tasks such as shopping or housework. Unmet need was more common in more deprived areas and among people with a limiting long-term illness.

“Unmet” covers help from anyone, including family. The survey excludes care homes and hospitals, and reports need as people describe it rather than as councils assess it — so it is not a count of people wrongly refused council care.

Options to widen access — reablement, adaptations, funding reform — are compared on the Social care page.

Sources and methods (3)

DHSC, Adult social care activity report, England: 2024 to 2025, Commentary and data tables (Tables 8, 9, 12, 60) (released 23 October 2025, updated 16 June 2026) — requests, routes, outcomes, regional rates and long-term support
NHS England, Health Survey for England 2024: social care for older adults (released 27 January 2026) — need, receipt of help and unmet need among adults aged 65+
Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2015 — national eligibility criteria

Method notes

A new client has not received long-term support in the three months before the request. Outcomes are the first applicable event within three months, using a hierarchy.
DHSC rounds counts and advises that 2024–25 request and reablement figures are not comparable with earlier SALT data; some councils under-reported reablement.
Health Survey for England estimates are for adults aged 65+ in private households in England, 2024.