Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to speed up delayed discharges in the 2023-24 financial year; and where those funds have been derived from.

The Department is distributing £600 million in 2023/24 through the Better Care Fund (BCF) to reduce discharge delays, freeing up National Health Service beds for those that need them. This is being split between local authorities and integrated care boards (ICBs) with each receiving £300 million. This is new money announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement as part of a £2.8 billion funding package for social care and discharge.

Local areas can also decide to spend a proportion of other BCF funding on discharge, if this aligns to local priorities and is in line with national conditions set out in the 2023 to 2025 BCF policy framework. The BCF and NHS minimum contribution for 2023/24 is approximately £6.9 billion.