The key trends in adult social care in England outlined in this report are:

1. Requests: More people, particularly working-age adults, are requesting support
2. Receipt of care: The number of people receiving long-term care has fallen again
3. Eligibility: Financial eligibility is tighter and reform has been put back
4. Spending: Total expenditure has increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is now higher than in 2010/11
5. Costs: Local authorities are paying more for care home places and home care.
6. Capacity: The total number of care home places has declined slightly
7. Vacancies: The staff vacancy rate is the highest since records began
8. Pay: Care-worker pay continues to rise but struggles to compete with other sectors
9. Carers: Fewer unpaid carers now receive paid support and respite care has also fallen
10. Quality: Quality is largely stable but fewer ratings were published during Covid-19
11. Personalisation: Fewer people receive direct payments
12. Satisfaction: Satisfaction of people using services is edging downward