Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding the Government has made available to local authorities to support elderly people who are lonely.

The Department does not provide funding to local authorities for loneliness. However tackling loneliness at all ages is firmly on the Government’s agenda. On 15 October the Government published its first strategy to combat loneliness ‘A connected society: A Strategy for tackling loneliness – laying the foundations for change’.

The strategy brought together the Government, local government, public services, the voluntary and community sector and businesses to identify opportunities to tackle loneliness and build more integrated communities.