A third of care homes in Norfolk are failing or require improvement according to new research published today.

Older people's charity Independent Age has been looking into the ratings given to care homes across the country and found that 29pc of homes in Norfolk were said to be inadequate or requiring improvement.

The new analysis is based on CQC inspections of care homes which rate homes as either 'Outstanding', 'Good', 'Requires improvement' or 'Inadequate'. The analysis regarded homes rated 'Requires improvement' or 'Inadequate' as being poor performers.

Five local authority areas were found to have more than half of homes rated 'Inadequate' or 'requires improvement'.

They are:

• Stockport – 62.9pc of homes

• Salford – 61.5pc

• Tameside – 54.8pc

• Manchester – 51.3pc

• Kensington and Chelsea – 50pc

Simon Bottery, director of policy at Independent Age, said: 'No one should be forced to live in an unsatisfactory care home but our analysis shows this is the grim reality in some parts of the country.

'The market is simply not providing a decent choice for older people and their families but there is little indication that local authorities or the government are giving the problem the attention it deserves.

'Money is likely to be one cause but not the only one. The government has an opportunity to address this in its upcoming Green Paper on social care but, in the meantime, councils must demonstrate that they understand the reasons for care home failures and are working to resolve them.'

Independent Age believes the drivers for care home quality variation includes factors such as low levels of funding by local authorities, low pay and difficulty recruiting staff, and the lack of a good support mechanism for improving care homes that are struggling.

The care homes market is now valued at nearly £16 billion. However, social care is facing a £2.6billion funding gap by 2019/20.