Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the supporting people programme of the removal of ring-fenced funding from that programme.

Nearly all local government core spending power is un-ringfenced. This allows councils, who are independent of central Government, to manage their budgets in line with local priorities. Total Core Spending Power for local authorities in England is set to rise in real terms over the next two years, from £44.3 billion in 2017-18 to £45.6 billion in 2019-20.

This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society and we have already taken several steps during this Parliament to help secure a strong and sustainable adult social care system. The Spring Budget 2017 announced an additional £2 billion funding in England to spend on adult social care in the short-term. This meant that, by the start of this financial year (2017-18), the Government had given councils access to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care over the next three years.

While it is for local authorities to manage funding according to local priorities, the Government expects them to provide the right services to local communities, especially for the vulnerable and older people.