Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department implements an increase in annual social care funding of £3.9 billion by 2023–24 to meet demographic changes and planned increases in the National Living Wage.

We are providing councils with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021-22 on top of the significant support provided over the last year to support the sector to deal with COVID-19.This funding is designed to ensure key pressures are met, including demographic changes and increases in the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage. Funding decisions on social care beyond 2021-22 will be decided at the next Spending Review.