Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the RedQuadrant report entitled Building the Right Support: An analysis of funding flows published on 14 June 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing ring-fenced funding for preventative and crisis support.

No specific assessment has been made.

The Government has a long-standing policy to provide funding to local authorities on a non-ringfenced basis. It is considered more efficient for local authorities to manage funding according to local priorities, rather than central Government trying to control every spending decision.