Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government about the effect of changes to local authority budgets on funding for adult social care.

The Secretary of State for Health has frequent discussions with both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which encompass a wide variety of topics, including social care.

In particular, Ministers recently met to discuss how best to tackle delayed discharges from hospital. As a result the Department has issued a new ring-fenced grant to local authorities worth £25 million.