Key facts

• an estimated 2.07 million contacts from new clients were made to Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) in England in 2007-08. This figure has shown an increase of 1 per cent from 2.04 million in 2006-07
• 1.05 million of these contacts (51 per cent) resulted in further assessment of need or the commissioning of ongoing services, and just over a million (49 per cent) contacts were attended to solely at or near the point of contact
• there were an estimated 661,000 new clients for whom the first assessment was completed during 2007-08. This is an increase of 2 per cent from 650,000 in 2006-07
• in 2007-08, of the 1.53 million clients receiving community-based services, 577,000 clients received home care; 519,000 clients received equipment and adaptations; 507,000 received professional support (e.g. occupational therapy), 227,000 received day care and 136,000 received meals as a service following assessment. Clients receiving more than one type of community-based service are included for each service received so there will be some double counting
• an estimated 1.22 million (69 per cent), of those receiving services as part of a package of care following an assessment, were aged 65 and over
• of the 378,000 carers assessed or reviewed, an estimated 337,000 carers (89 per cent) received a service following a carer's assessment or review. Of these, 62 per cent received 'carer specific' services, and 38 per cent received information only