New research shows there is a current funding gap in adult social care of about £634 million per year. Government and local authorities are going to have to make brave decisions

• Jonathan Carr-West
• Guardian Professional, Friday 2 November 2012 12.30 GMT

How do you want to spend your old age? Many of us would prefer to spend our final years in our own homes, but not to be completely isolated. If we have to go into residential care we want that setting to be comfortable, safe and stimulating. In sum we want dignity, autonomy and security in our old age.

However for too many people residential care is catastrophically expensive, poor quality and disconnected from the full range services they may need.

A new paper written by LGiU for the RSA and published Friday 2 November highlights the scale of this problem, not just for national government but especially for local government which funds and commissions the vast majority of social care.

As recently as April this year Paul Burstow, then social care minister, told the House of Commons health select committee: “There is no gap in the current spending review period on the basis of the money that we are putting in plus efficiency gains through local authorities redesigning services.”