Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the (a) financial capacity and (b) staffing resources of local councils to discharge their statutory social care duties effectively in 2017-18.

Earlier this year, the Government gave councils access to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for social care over the next three years. This includes an additional £2 billion of funding in England, as announced at the Spring Budget 2017. The appropriate staffing required by a council to meet their duties is a matter for local authorities to determine.