State of the Nation Report
On 4th July 2024, the Labour Government was elected on a mandate of change. One year on, Access Social Care’s annual State of the Nation report reveals a stark continuation of Westminster’s failure to address long-standing crises faced by social care in England. The report paints a sobering picture for those reliant on a system under extreme strain, and not the change many older or disabled people had hoped for at the ballot box.
Key findings from the 2025 report
45.6%
increase in safeguarding concerns
16.6%
increase in advice provision identifying the need for specialist legal advice
10.7%
rise in general social care advice queries within the information seeking category
8.6%
increase in direct payment queries
7.5%
increase in people receiving advice about social care through helplines
7.3%
rise in unpaid carer queries
Hear from our experts
Watch our State of the Nation webinar Q&A on the right, exploring safeguarding concerns, funding pressures, legal rights, and the future of social care through data insights, lived experience, and expert discussion.
One year in, our data shows that rather than Labour turning the tide, safeguarding concerns have surged by 45%. This is a devastating marker of a system under extreme strain, where under-resourced services are failing to provide the social care we all need. The government’s policy decisions—particularly around National Insurance and wage uplifts—risk adding billions in costs to the sector without matching investment. We cannot reform social care with rhetoric.
We urge the Casey Commission to break the cycle of delay and to seek full access to government data so it can deliver the bold, evidence-based solutions that people so desperately need. This is not only about budgets—it’s about rights, safety, and dignity.
- Kari Gerstheimer, CEO of Access Social Care
Read our previous State of the Nation reports
2024
2023
2022
2021
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