Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in the national living wage in April 2023 on the adequacy of funding for local authority provision of social care.

The Government took into account a wide range of pressures including inflation and National Living Wage increases when determining the additional funding made available at the Autumn Statement.

We are making available up to £7.5 billion over two years to support adult social care and discharge - with up to £2.8 billion available in 2023/24 and up to £4.7 billion in 2024/25. This historic funding is more than sufficient to cover these pressures and enable Local Authorities to deliver tangible improvements in adult social care services.