Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) next steps and (b) timescales are for the proposed consultation on social care; and if he will address the needs of carers in that consultation.

My Rt. hon. Friend the First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Damian Green, has announced this month that the Government will publish a Green Paper on care and support for older people by summer 2018. The Green Paper will set out proposals to reform care and support for older people.

With the shifts we are seeing in society, including our ageing population, caring will increasingly become a core part of family life for all of us. That is why the Green Paper will include a focus on unpaid care and how our society supports carers as a vital part of a sustainable health and social care system.

Ahead of the Green Paper’s publication, the Department will continue to lead a cross-Government programme of targeted work to support carers.

Once the Green Paper is published by summer 2018, it will be subject to a full public consultation.