What is adult social care?
Adult social care is the provision of professional social work, personal care, protection, and social support, founded on a strengths-based assessment of people's needs. It provides support for people with needs for care and support that are above national thresholds, in a way that promotes wellbeing, independence, and safety, with clear duties on local authorities and rights for individuals and carers. Adult social care encompasses a range of services and support designed to help individuals who need extra assistance to live as independently as possible.
The single most important legal duty of social care is safeguarding. This involves protecting people from harm and abuse, and responding to such concerns with a rapid and proportionate enquiry into the allegations, focused on the wishes of the person at risk and on stopping the abuse happening again. The service has a duty to support the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board, a multi-agency partnership for ensuring safeguarding for vulnerable adults.
In Lincolnshire, social care services are designed to meet the unique needs of individuals, focusing on promoting independence, preventing, reducing and delaying need for statutory services, and integrating healthcare and social care to provide coordinated and effective support. Engaging people, offering an initial Care Act assessment of needs, and delivering any necessary support is rooted in a strengths-based approach, in line with statutory guidance to ensure a prompt and proportionate service response.
- 11,00 people are supported by social care
- 817 Staff are employed by LCC’s Social Care Directorate
- 48,000 Requests for support were made to social care in 2024/25, up 9% for Older People
- 3,745 People age 18-64 are supported by social care
- 7,255 People age 65+ are supported by social care
- 3.77% of older people in Lincolnshire are supported by social care compared to England 5.19% and the East Midlands 4.82%
Our legal responsibilities
- Care Act 2014 - offers a comprehensive framework for the assessment of needs and provision of adult social care, and outlines duties and responsibilities of local authorities in ensuring wellbeing of adults in need of care and support. Care and support statutory guidance - GOV.UK. See also:
- Main Statutory Duties under the Care Act 2014. (Social Care Institute for Excellence)
- Principles of the Care Act 2014 (Social Care Institute for Excellence)
- Eligibility Criteria for and Outcomes of Care and Support (Social Care Institute for Excellence)
- Mental Capacity Act 2005 & Amendment 2009 – set out the legal framework for making decisions on behalf of individuals who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice - GOV.UK provides guidance to all professionals in the field.
- Children & Families Act 2014 - provides support and protection for children and their families, focusing on adoption, special educational needs, and child welfare- Children and Families Act 2014.
- Mental Health Act 1983 & 2007 - governs the assessment, treatment, and rights of individuals with mental health disorders, including provisions for detention and aftercare services. The Code of practice: Mental Health Act 1983 - GOV.UK provides guidance to all professionals in the field.
- Health & Care Act 2022 - sets out the organisation and delivery of health and care services in England, aiming to improve system integration, tackle health disparities, and ensure safety and quality of care Health and Care Act 2022 - GOV.UK.
National and regional context
This section outlines some of the national and regional factors shaping the lives of people and services in Lincolnshire.
Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined County Authority: The Devolution Deal
The creation of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority marks a pivotal shift in regional governance. With a £720 million investment fund over 30 years, the devolution deal will support infrastructure improvements in housing, transport, digital access, and skills. Adult Social Care is preparing itself to make the most these changes, ensuring continuity of care and responsiveness to new governance structures.
NHS long-term plan
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025 sets out a vision for a future-ready model of care, grounded in the founding principles of the NHS: universal access, free at the point of delivery, based on clinical need, and funded through general taxation. This signposts an urgent need for transformation, based on the Darzi Report (2024), which concluded the NHS was in a critical state, with public satisfaction reaching an all-time low, waiting times for treatment increasing, and the overall health of the population declining. Led by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Plan pushes the NHS to shift focus urgently in three distinct directions:
- From Hospital to Community – the Neighbourhood Health Service designed around you: The creation of a new Neighbourhood Health and Wellbeing Service, to bring care closer to communities.
- From Analogue to Digital – Power in your Hands: Empowering individuals by placing more control in their hands.
- From Sickness to Prevention – Power to Make the Healthy Choice: Empowering individuals to make healthier choices, the ambition is to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while increasing healthy life expectancy for everyone.
NHS Lincolnshire joint forward plan
The NHS Lincolnshire Joint Forward Plan describes the priorities that the local NHS will focus on over the next five years, to meet the physical and mental health needs of the Lincolnshire population, in the context of the overall Integrated Care Strategy ambition and aims. These priorities are:
- a better relationship with the people of Lincolnshire
- living well, staying well
- improving access
- delivering integrated community care
- a happy and valued workforce
More information: Lincolnshire ICB - Supporting healthcare for the population of Lincolnshire