Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the implementation of sustainability and transformation plans on social care costs for local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) are locally led plans designed to reflect the priorities and needs of the area. As such it is for individual STPs, which we expect to be developed in partnership with local authorities, to determine the impact on social care costs. Through better integration of health and social care across an area we believe can improve patient experience.