Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will provide funding to fully cover the additional costs of (a) changing the social care charging regime and (b) increasing the number of people eligible for local authority care.

We have listened to the concerns of local government and have taken the difficult decision to delay the planned adult social care charging reforms from October 2023 to October 2025. The funding intended for implementation will be retained in local authority budgets to meet current pressures.