Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities to cover the increase of £44.25 per week announced for NHS funded nursing care.

NHS-funded Nursing Care is the funding provided by the National Health Service to homes providing nursing to support the provision of nursing care by a registered nurse.

Where an individual has been assessed as eligible for NHS-funded Nursing Care, it is the responsibility of the relevant NHS clinical commissioning group to ensure that the weekly rate of £156.25 is passed on to the care provider in full, including making arrangements to backdate the rate to 1 April 2016 for individuals who were eligible at this time.

Section 22 of the Care Act 2014 makes clear that the costs of providing nursing care by a registered nurse are the responsibility of the NHS, rather than of the local authority or of those individuals who are funding their own care.