Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department collects on adult loneliness.

The Department of Health does not collect data on adult loneliness but a range of other national collections do address this issue.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) collects information on social care activity and expenditure. In 2015 the type of data the HSCIC collects was changed and for the first time it now captures information on social isolation.

The Community Care Statistics: Social Services Activity 2014/15 show that local authorities in England met the needs of 56,000 adults where the primary support reason was support for social isolation. The Personal Social Services: Expenditure and Unit Costs England 2014-15, show that local authorities spent £81 million in meeting the needs of adults whose primary support reason was social isolation/other. The HSCIC does not collect data on the numbers of adults or expenditure spent where local address social isolation through preventative measures.

The HSCIC run an annual Survey of Adult Social Care users and a biennial Survey of Adult Carers covering all Local Authorities in England. Both surveys contain questions on users and carers satisfaction with their levels of social contact. This data feeds into the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework indicators which are also published by HSCIC.