The demand for publicly-funded social care is at a record high, a new study has revealed.

Latest figures showed that requests for support have increased to around 1.98 million yet the number of people receiving long-term care fell to 818,000 in 2021-22.

Senior fellow at The King's Fund charity and lead author of the report, Simon Bottery, said: ‘It's likely that local authorities will see the number of new requests for adult social care pass the two million mark for the first time this year but, on current trends, fewer people will end up receiving long-term support.

'That means that more people will have to pay themselves, rely on family and friends or go without care entirely.'

Chairman of the Local Government Association's community wellbeing board, David Fothergill, said £13bn was needed to meet the pressure for social care and enable councils to meet their statutory duties.

He said: ‘Councils and providers always strive to reflect, learn and improve, but it is becoming increasingly hard to fund even statutory services.'