Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with local authorities in Greater Manchester concerning changes to capacity in adult social care.

The Department has not had any discussions with local authorities in Greater Manchester on this issue. It is for local authorities to decide how best to commission and deliver care services in their area.

However, the Department recently held discussions with the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to agree how best to allocate additional funding to the worst affected local authorities in England to help address delayed discharges from hospitals to the social care system.

As a result Manchester City Council and Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council have each received a one-off grant of £325,000 in 2014/15 to be spent for these purposes.