PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Social Services (26 October 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much additional funding local authorities will require in order to pay overnight care at rates commensurate to the national minimum wage; and what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to secure that additional funding.

Asked by:
Mark Tami (Labour)

At the Spring Budget we announced an additional £2 billion to fund adult social care. As a result local government will be able to increase spending on social care in real terms over the next three years. The additional money was provided to support more people, ease pressures on the National Health Service, and to sustain a diverse care market.

The Government has taken account of the cost arising from enforcement of national minimum wage for sleep-in shifts in deciding to provide this sum of additional funding. Local government is best placed to target resources based on their understanding of the diversity and sustainability of local care markets.

Answered by:
Dame Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative)
2 November 2017