Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide additional support to organisations working to tackle loneliness and isolation amongst older people in Budget 2021.

The Spring Budget did not include additional support specifically for organisations working to tackle loneliness and isolation amongst older people.

The government has rolled out a substantial package of support which has been available to charities and the wider voluntary sector. Together with the sector-specific £750million package and pan economy measures such as the furlough scheme, the VCSE sector has accessed a multi-billion pound package of support. This has helped to ensure that organisations at risk of financial hardship have been able to continue their vital work supporting the country during the coronavirus outbreak.

As part of this package of support, we have provided over £30 million this financial year to organisations which support people experiencing loneliness or social isolation. Most recently we launched the £4 million Local Connections Fund, made up of £2 million from government and £2 million from the National Lottery Community Fund, supporting small local organisations tackling loneliness. A second round of this funding will open later this year.