CSCI is the inspectorate for social care in England, responsible for regulating and inspecting all social care providers - whether in the public or independent sector, and for assessing the performance of local councils in delivering social services. They have published a report about the state of social care which says that councils are restricting social care services and it is families and carers that are having to take the strain.

The report finds that :

• More services are meeting minimum standards, but despite spending more, councils are tightening local rules about who qualifies for state-funded social care.
• More and more older and disabled people are either having to find and pay for their own private care or rely on carers (family members or friends.)
• As local councils support fewer people, carers have to fill in the gaps, with inadequate support structures to help them and no system in many areas to help people find the services they need.
• The lack of 'respite' help for people who have caring responsibilities can affect their ability to hold down a job, fulfil other family responsibilities such as looking after children, and may damage their own long-term health and emotional well being.   

Other key findings of the report address the type and quality of services that are being delivered:

• Social care services for both adults and children in England are gradually modernising and getting better. Some services exceed minimum standards and provide very good levels of care.
• Some services still do not meet national minimum standards and do not offer people choice and control. For example, people often have little choice as to who provides care in their home and when.
• The marketplace for social care providers is underdeveloped, there are continuing recruitment and retention problems for high quality qualified staff.
• More people are using direct payments - a scheme that allows them to control their own budgets.