Not everything with social services will be a battle.
It depends which area he is in. Some are really quick and responsive (like the one I work in) and others less so.
They have to assess him 'carer blind' so if there are things you are doing for him they should have that as a need and then if you want to continue doing it then it becomes a met need, if you are no longer unable to, then it's an unmet need that they then need to meet.
Have you any idea of his finances as that is often one of the first things we will ask - because if someone is self-funding the options available to them change as they can go to agencies that we don't contract with to meet their needs and in the case of going into a home, can pick which one they want rather than social services finding it for them. Try to find this out before the assessment if you don't know how much money(ish) he has in the bank.
Being a self-funder doesn't mean we won't assess and support to find the care if needed.
Sometimes though, people have less than £23k savings but income high enough to be assessed as having to contribute to the care based on their income. This is often a barrier as service users will perceive that they can't afford to pay. If they have mental capacity around this then that is their right and they decline the care. Be prepared for this as it happens a lot. It can take a lot of reasoning with the person to get them to take the help.
I'm not trying to be negative - just trying to point out some barriers. Often families will not be at the assessment and contact us later ranting about us 'doing nothing' etc but the fact is their loved one declined the care/won't pay if needed and we can't just override wishes of people who have mental capacity!!