Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that social care services are adequately funded to support individuals experiencing loneliness.

Loneliness and social isolation can affect many people and impact on their health and wellbeing. The Government’s current work to tackle loneliness includes: supporting a range of organisations through the Tackling Loneliness Hub, an online platform for professionals working to reduce loneliness; working to improve the evidence base around loneliness; and providing advice through the Better Health: Every Mind Matters campaign’s advice pages. It also includes the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, a grant fund designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as those that support individuals experiencing loneliness, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.