Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Ian Liddell-Grainger

Tuesday 14th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to accept the hon. Lady’s invitation to visit her area, which I will do, but what I know I will see when I go there is that 8,300 more people are being treated within four hours at her local hospital, where there are 42 more doctors and 56 more nurses than in 2010.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

T6. May I thank the Secretary of State for all the help he gave with Minehead hospital in my constituency? I am very grateful. However, one problem is that Somerset pays the lowest amount in the peninsula to keep people in homes, and that is putting more people into hospitals. Will the Secretary of State offer some advice on how we can get round this situation?

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to do that, and it is very straightforward. We listened hard when local authorities said they needed more support for the social care budget. We put an extra £2 billion into it in this year’s Budget. Spending is going up this year by 8.6%, so all local authorities are expected to play their part in reducing pressure on hospitals.