Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the delay to publishing the green paper on social care on people who are not receiving an adequate level of care.

It is important to take the time to get the details right for a better care system, so that people receive high standards of care, helping them maintain their independence and well-being. This is why we want to integrate plans for social care with the new National Health Service plan, we therefore now intend to publish the social care Green Paper in the autumn around the same time as the NHS plan.

In the meantime, all councils have statutory duties to look after the vulnerable, elderly and disabled people in their area. The Care Act 2014 requires that where a person is assessed as having eligible care and support needs, these must be met by their local authority. For those who do not meet the eligibility criteria, local authorities should signpost people to relevant services.

The Care Act 2014 also placed a new duty on councils to offer a meaningful choice of services, so that people have a range of high quality, appropriate care options to choose from and that they get the services that best meet their needs.

The Government recognises the pressures on the social care system. This is why the Government announced an additional £2 billion at Spring Budget 2017 for adult social care over the three years from 2017-18. With this, and other measures, the Government has given councils access to £9.4 billion dedicated funding for adult social care over three years.