Thousands of people had their requests for social care turned down by Surrey County Council last year, data analysis by a charity supporting disabled people has revealed.

In 2015/16 the county council turned down 78 per cent of requests for social care. Out of 35,565 requests, only 7,995 were successful, according to the Leonard Cheshire charity.

In further “worrying” figures, the charity highlighted that the number of people receiving care from the council had fallen by five per cent from 31,095 in 2009 to 29,650 in 2014.

From September: Poorest to be 'seriously impacted' by changes to Surrey County Council's adult social care service charges

A Surrey County Council spokesman said a 17 per cent rise in the number of people needing social care, across all ages, over the last five years, had put a “huge strain” on the council’s budget. He added that, accordingly, the council would need to spend an additional £24million every year to provide sufficient support.

Cllr Fiona White, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Social Care, said: "These figures are hugely worrying as we know for a fact that demand for care services has been rising steeply for years.

“The failure to provide proper social care also means that people have to stay in hospital even though they are well enough to go home because the right care is not available.

“In turn that means delays in hospital treatment for others because of a lack of beds.

"This government must listen, or the crisis in adult social care, not just in Surrey but all across the country, will continue".

In October, Surrey County Council introduced new charges for adult social care services across the county, including a £295 fee for arranging individualised care within the home.

This was done in order to offset “a significant reduction of core central government funding”, according to a spokesman.

The chief executive of the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People said the package of changes would affect the “poorest in our society”.

A county council spokesman said: “In the last five years the overall number of people we have provided care to has risen dramatically while the amount of funded care packages for older people has also increased, by 17% between 2009 and 2014, and this has since grown even further across all ages.

“This demand has put a huge strain on the budget for adult social care and, along with the rising cost of care packages, we now need to spend an additional £24 million every year to continue to support those who need care.”

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