Oral Answers to Questions

Thelma Walker Excerpts

Monday 4th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

The hon. Lady is quite right to say that ensuring that we have enough affordable homes in London and elsewhere is a high priority for this Government, which is why we changed the rules on housing revenue account funding, and I look forward to the authority building even more houses than it has already.

[Thelma Walker (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for adult social services.

[Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

16. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for adult social services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rishi Sunak)]

This Government have recognised the pressures facing adult social services and have provided councils with access to an additional £10 billion of dedicated funding for adult social care for the three years up to 2019-20.

[Thelma Walker]

I thank the Minister for his response. However, 96% of all local authorities told the Local Government Association that there is a major national funding problem in adult social care. Demographics are changing and demand is growing. What are the Government doing to provide long-term sustainable support to local authorities such as Kirklees Council, so that they can deliver vital services to our most vulnerable citizens?

[Rishi Sunak]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. In the short term, £1 billion of extra funding for social care services was announced in the Budget. In the longer term, the Department of Health and Social Care will soon outline its Green Paper and a longer term sustainable settlement. However, the answer is not just about the amount of money that we spend. Her council is a fantastic example of providing good outcomes for social care by using taxpayer resources prudently. Just last week, it was named a top 10 council for social care.