MORE than 20 people a day requested adult social care assistance from Swindon Borough Council last year.

That is more than 8,000 new requests for the council’s help over the whole year.

The figures come from NHS Digital and show the extent of the growing demand on local authorities for care for vulnerable and elderly adults.

The organisation’s figures say that across the country in 2017-18 there were 1.8 million new requests for adult social care from 1.3m people, the equivalent of 5,100 a day.

In Swindon the annual figure was 8,185 - an average of 22 new requests every day of the year.

Compared to neighbouring and similar authorities, Swindon received a high rate of requests for care and assistance last year.

Southampton, which has a population of 253,000 compared to Swindon’s 209,000 residents, received nearly a thousand fewer requests at 7,270.

Wiltshire Council received 9,440 approaches, at least a thousand more than Swindon.

But with a population of 470,000 - more than twice Swindon’s - Wiltshire has a far lower proportion of requests.

Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet member for adults social care told the Advertiser: “These figures from NHS Digital highlight the growing pressures on local authorities’ adult social care services.

“In Swindon, 44 per cent of our budget - £62m - is spent on providing care to our most vulnerable adults and whether you need these services or not, they are a lifeline.

He said: "We have managed to stabilise our demand through our reablement programme, speeding up hospital discharges so people can get back on their feet quicker in their own home.

“We have also provided funding for community-based support to decrease long-term support for those people over the age of 65.”

The borough's council tax increase for 2017/18 included a three per cent rise specifically ringfenced to pay for growing adult social care demands.

All other services funded by the borough council are to be funded from a two per cent increase in council tax.

The council’s budget for adults, including social care, for this year is £84.34m, and a saving of £700,000 on that budget has been projected for the year.

Apart from the schools budget, which is supplied in a separate grant by government, it is the largest single item in the council’s revenue budget.