Four in ten social services users have as much as social contact as they want

Among adults who receive social services, 44% say that they have as much social contact as they want with people they like. The figures are part of a collection of statistics on social care in England in three provisional reports published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) recently.

This is the first year that a measure on social contact for adult users of social care and carers has been included in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF). ASCOF is a set of indicators defined by the Department of Health to benchmark the performance of local councils on their delivery of adult social care.

HSCIC Chief Executive Andy Williams said: “The wealth of information contained in the reports we are publishing today provides useful insight into the lives and experiences of the members of our communities who rely on social services. These statistics will be of use not just to people who plan, provide or use services, but also more widely to all those who take an interest in the vital support that social services can provide to some of the most vulnerable in society.”

Alongside the provisional ASCOF data, the HSCIC has released data on social care activity (including details of the numbers of adults being assessed for and receiving social services) and the results of an annual survey assessing how far users of social services are satisfied with the support they receive. Key 2013-14 statistics from the three reports include:

• Among adults receiving social services, 44% said they had as much social contact as they wanted with people they like, for 34% the amount of social contact was adequate, 16% had some but not enough, and 6% felt socially isolated
• The percentage of people using social care who receive self-directed support increased to 62% in 2013-14, from 56% in 2012-13, 43% in 2011-12 and 29% in 2010-11 (earliest available ASCOF data)
• The number of people receiving social services in 2013-14 was 1,267,000, down 5% on 2012-13 (1,328,000) and 29%t on 2008-9 (1,782,000)