Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the provision of domiciliary social care in the event that a large number of staff are required to self-isolate as a result of an increase in covid-19 infection rates.

Throughout the pandemic, we have provided £1.49 billion through the Infection Control Fund to support adult social care providers to implement infection prevention and control measures, such as paying staff to self-isolate in line with Government guidance. We are continuing to monitor absence rates in the adult social care workforce and the impact of self-isolation guidance on workforce capacity. We are considering any further actions that may need to be taken to support workforce capacity where appropriate.