Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the differences in (a) the level of fees paid by each local authority to social care providers and (b) the proportion of residents in each local authority area who fund their own social care without local authority support; and if he will make a statement.

No assessment has been made of the level of fees paid by local authorities to social care providers and no data is collected centrally on the number or proportion of self-funded clients in each local authority.

Commissioning social care is a matter for local authorities who are best placed to understand the needs of local people and communities, and how best to meet them.

The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities in England to promote a diverse, sustainable, high quality market of care and support providers for people in their local area.

We have given local authorities in England an extra £2 billion over the next three years to maintain access for our growing aging population and allow councils to sustain a diverse care market including care home places.

The Department is supporting local authorities to influence their local market through improved market facilitation and commissioning to ensure that local markets are effective.