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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the cost to local authorities of agency social workers.

Local authorities receive funds through local taxes, fees and charges, as well as through central government. Local authorities are best placed to take decisions on spend for social care based on local priorities. In response to calls for further funding to tackle the immediate pressures, the Local Government Finance Settlement increased the dedicated funding available for social care through increased flexibility around the social care precept and with a new dedicated £240 million Adult Social Care Support Grant in 2017 to 2018, distributed according to relative need.