Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to increase funding for third sector organisations for the delivery of services through Integrated Care Boards for patients with dementia in the community in the context of trends in the level of dementia diagnoses.

NHS England continues to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at national, regional and integrated care board (ICB) level.   The latest dementia diagnosis rate reported by NHS Digital for the end of November 2023 was 64.7%, the highest it has been for three years due to sustained recovery efforts.

Local authorities are required to provide or arrange services that meet the social care needs of the local population, including carers, under the Care Act 2014.

ICBs are responsible for the provision of dementia care services. NHS England expects ICBs to commission services based on local population needs.

Many local authorities already utilise third sector partnerships to deliver dementia-related services in their area. It is for individual ICBs to distribute funding at a local level and therefore their decision on whether to increase funding for third sector organisations.