Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on using social prescribing interventions to help tackle loneliness among young people as part of the Government's loneliness strategy.

The £3.37 million MHCLG Community Fund programme has supported 54 local authorities and community group partnerships to shape and deliver improved services. Six grants are linked to social prescribing, of which three directly target vulnerable children and young people. For example, the ‘Community Connectors’ project in South Norfolk was awarded £70,000 to deliver social prescribing from all GP surgeries across South Norfolk providing a non-medical solution to social, emotional and practical issues that may be causing health problems for people of all ages.

The Department has also contributed towards the £3.5 million jointly invested by the Government and the Co-op Foundation in projects tackling youth loneliness through the Youth Strand of the Building Connections Fund in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

My Department will continue to work with other government departments to deliver the commitments in 'A Connected Society: A Strategy for Tackling Loneliness’ and to build the infrastructure for social prescribing.