DHSC | ASC client level data England: quarterly update to December 2025

The total number of people receiving long-term support in England showed an increase from 662,000 on 31 January 2025 to 683,000 on 31 December 2025.

The trend is driven by the increase in long-term support delivered in community settings, which covers home care and support in the form of direct payments from the local authority that people can then use to buy their own care and support.

The number of people receiving long-term support in the community increased from 465,000 on 31 January 2025 to 486,000 on 31 December 2025. This number increased in all age groups. The majority of people assessed between January 2025 and December 2025 were recorded as female (58% of those with recorded gender).

Data is only publicly available by region with the south east ranking second highest for new assessments for care.

On 31 December 2025:

• 486,000 people were receiving support in the community
• 139,000 people were receiving support in residential care homes
• 55,000 people were receiving support in nursing homes
• 250 people were receiving support in prison

Read about this and more in our weekly newsletter for 8 April 2026