Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with care providers on increased costs due to covid-19 being passed on to people in care homes; and if he will make a statement.

We recognise that COVID-19 is imposing significant pressures on the social care sector. We have now made £3.7 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including in adult social care. On 15 May we published details of an additional £600 million Infection Control Fund for Adult Social Care. This funding is to support adult social care providers in England reduce the rate of transmission in and between care homes and to support workforce resilience. This funding is intended to cover both the publicly funded and self-funded care markets.