Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of local authority funding changes on hospital discharge times to social care.

The Government has made available up to £8.6 billion in additional funding over the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25, to support adult social care and discharge. This includes £1.6 billion through the Discharge Fund, to support the National Health Service and local authorities to ensure timely and effective discharge from hospital. This funding enables local authorities to buy more care packages, help people leave hospital on time, improve workforce recruitment and retention, and reduce waiting times for care.