Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of analysis by the Alzheimer's Society that the adult social care sector will need at least £3.9 billion per annum to maintain current standards and keep up with demographic changes and changes to the National Living Wage.

The provisional local Government finance settlement proposes making available over £1 billion of additional resource to local authorities specifically for social care in 2022-23. Councils will also have access to funding from grant covering all services, including the 2022-23 Services Grant, and from council tax to meet the inflationary and demographic pressures facing social care.

In addition to this increased local Government funding, the Government will provide £5.4 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25 for adult social care reform. The funding available to councils means overall local Government spending will increase by 4%, including the investment in adult social care reform.

No assessment has been made of the figure quoted by the Alzheimer’s Society. Local Government finance settlement provides funding to allow councils to increase their spending on the vital public services they provide, such as adult social care, and will ensure those services can respond effectively to rising demand and cost pressures.