Why community must become core infrastructure in social care

How councils can reduce demand by supporting carers earlier

With Emily Douglin, executive director – local government, Civica

Local authorities are under sustained pressure in social care. Demand is rising, needs are more complex and frontline capacity is stretched. For years, the focus has been on improving systems to manage that demand more efficiently. That work matters, but it cannot prevent the demand in the first place. If councils are serious about prevention, the answer lies not in better systems alone, but in rethinking where support actually happens.

For unpaid carers, support needs rarely fit into service pathways or office hours. It happens in the moments between crises, late at night, during uncertainty, often in isolation. Traditional models, however well designed, cannot fully meet those needs. That gap is where pressure builds and situations escalate.

Community can close it.

With Carers Week now underway, there is a renewed focus across the sector on recognising the contribution of unpaid carers. That recognition matters. But it should also prompt a more practical question for local authorities, how do we support carers earlier and more effectively, not just acknowledge their role?

That insight sits behind Civica's partnership with Mobilise, the UK’s leading digital platform for unpaid carers. The aim is simple, to help councils shift earlier. Not just to respond to need, but to prevent it from intensifying.

Mobilise’s work shows what happens when carers are connected to each other. Peer support provides something services alone cannot, timely, practical help from people who understand the reality of caring.

As James Townsend, CEO and Co-Founder of Mobilise, says, “Community is not a softer layer around formal services. It is often what makes them work. When carers can connect with others who understand their situation, they gain confidence, clarity and the ability to act sooner.”

That has real implications for local authorities.

When carers are supported early, they are more likely to find meaningful assistance, access help at the right time and avoid crisis. This is not just better for individuals, it reduces avoidable demand on stretched services.

For Civica, this is part of a broader shift. Local government is moving from a reactive model, focused on managing demand, to one that is more proactive and preventative. That requires a different mix of capabilities, combining strong operational systems with earlier, more human forms of support.

The challenge for councils is not only how to manage demand, but how to change its trajectory. That means investing in approaches that support people earlier, in ways that reflect how people actually live, not how services are structured.

This is where technology plays a different role. Not just as a system of record, but as a way to connect people, surface insight and enable timely intervention.

By bringing together Civica’s case management expertise with Mobilise’s AI-enabled community platform and digital carer assessments, councils have an opportunity to take a more joined-up approach. One that links engagement, insight and delivery, rather than treating them in isolation.

There is also a broader lesson in how community works at scale.

In many services, scale reduces responsiveness. In peer networks, the opposite can be true. More people means more shared experience, faster responses and greater confidence. Support becomes more accessible, not less.

James Townsend adds, “When support reflects real life, not just service processes, carers are more likely to engage and take action. That leads to better outcomes over time, both for individuals and for the wider system.”

Carers Week is an important moment to recognise the scale and value of unpaid care. But if it is to mean more over time, it should also drive action, practical steps to reduce pressure on carers before it escalates, and to build support around the realities they face every day.

For local government leaders, the implication is clear: prevention cannot be delivered through statutory services alone. It depends on how well councils connect those services with the strengths that already exist in communities. Community is not a ‘nice to have’, it is core infrastructure.

The opportunity now is not just to recognise that, but to act on it. Build peer support into prevention strategies. Invest in platforms that connect carers early. Design services around the realities people face, not the inherited structures. That is how demand changes trajectory. That is how systems become sustainable.