Broken State
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The Broken State
Ten measures across nine public services, taken from official statistics. Each measure shows its latest figure, the change since its own starting point where a comparable figure exists, and its most recent movement with the period it covers.
Direction of each measure over the long term (the recent direction where no comparable starting figure exists)
5
▼ Worsening
2
▬ Broadly flat
3
▲ Improving
General practice
Fully qualified GPs (full time equivalent)
29,223
As of August 2026
▬ Broadly flat Since September 2015: down 0.5%
▲ Improving Recent: Up 815 (2.9%) on August 2025
Fully qualified GPs, full time equivalent, excluding trainees: 29,223 at 31 August 2026. Close to the September 2015 level while registered patients have risen, so patients per GP are higher. NHS England Digital, monthly.
Source: NHS England Digital, General Practice Workforce · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Hospitals
A&E: seen within 4 hours (all types)
74.4%
As of September 2026
▼ Worsening Since 2019: down 9.6 points
▼ Worsening Recent: Down 0.7 points on September 2025 (75.1%)
Share of all A&E attendances (all department types) admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, England. The interim target was 82% by March 2026; the constitutional standard is 95%. 2019 baseline approximate.
Source: NHS England, A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Elective waiting list (RTT incomplete pathways)
7.37m
As of August 2026
▼ Worsening Since February 2020: up 68%
▬ Broadly flat Recent: Down 33,512 (0.5%) on August 2025 (7.40m, revised)
Incomplete referral to treatment pathways (treatments waiting to start) at the end of August 2026, about 6.24 million individual patients. NHS England, monthly.
Source: NHS England, Consultant led Referral to Treatment (RTT) · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Adult social care
Adult social care vacancy rate
6.2%
As of 2025/26
▲ Improving Since 2019/20: down 1.6 points
▲ Improving Recent: Vacancies down 10.5% on 2024/25
Lowest vacancy rate in a decade (~96,000 vacant posts) and a fourth year of workforce growth, but still around three times the wider economy rate, with home care vacancies above 10%. Skills for Care, annual.
Source: Skills for Care, State of the adult social care sector and workforce · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026 · by council
Children’s social care
Children’s homes rated good or outstanding
82%
As of 2025/26
▲ Improving Since 2019/20: up 6.0 points
Of 4,430 full inspections of children's homes of all types in 2025/26, 82% judged them good or outstanding (11% outstanding, 71% good). There were 4,800 homes at 31 March 2026, up 800 (20%) on a year earlier. The report gives no comparable figure for 2024/25.
Source: Ofsted, Children’s social care in England · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026 · by council
Homelessness
Households in temporary accommodation
135,580
As of Q1 2026
▼ Worsening Since 2019: up 58%
▼ Worsening Recent: Up 3.6% on March 2025
135,580 households in temporary accommodation in England at 31 March 2026, 86,460 of them with children. MHCLG, quarterly.
Source: MHCLG, Statutory homelessness live tables · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026 · by council
Schools
Pupils persistently absent
17.5%
As of 2025/26 (autumn and spring)
▼ Worsening Since 2018/19: up 6.6 points
▬ Broadly flat Recent: 17.50% against 17.63% in the same terms of 2024/25
Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions in the autumn and spring terms of 2025/26. The 2018/19 baseline (10.9%) is a full school year, so the comparison is approximate. DfE, termly.
Source: DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Police
Victim based crimes resulting in a charge or summons
7.3%
As of 2025/26
▲ Improving Recent: Up from 6.3% in the year to March 2025
Charge or summons rate for victim based crimes in the year to March 2026, England and Wales (fraud and computer misuse excluded). No long term change is shown because the published measure has changed; the earlier 15.5% figure for 2015 covered a different set of offences.
Source: Home Office, Crime outcomes in England and Wales · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Criminal courts
Crown Court outstanding caseload
80,829
As of Q2 2026
▼ Worsening Since Q4 2019: up 113%
▼ Worsening Recent: Up 3% on June 2025 (78,226) and up 392 on March 2026
Open Crown Court cases at the end of June 2026, a series peak. More than double the level in December 2019, before Covid (about 38,000).
Source: Ministry of Justice, Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Prisons
Prison occupancy (population vs usable operational capacity)
96.3%
As of June 2026
▬ Broadly flat Since 2019: up 0.3 points
▲ Improving Recent: Down from 97.5% in June 2025
Population 85,858 against operational capacity of 89,120 (June 2026). Occupancy is held below the roughly 99% ceiling only by the SDS40 early release scheme running since 2024, so the percentage understates the strain.
Source: Ministry of Justice / HMPPS, Prison population weekly estate figures · Checked against the source on 17 October 2026
Figures are for England, except the justice indicators (police, criminal courts and prisons), which cover England and Wales. Each figure is entered by hand from the source named on its card and shows the date it was last checked. Where a published measure changes, no change over the long term is shown rather than joining two different series.