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 reform supports (a) deafblind people and (b) other disabled people with complex needs.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system, and that people are suffering without the care they need or fighting a complicated system just to receive poor quality care.

The independent commission into adult social care, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, will work with people who draw on care and their families, as well as sector partners, to make clear recommendations for how to rebuild the adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population, including for deafblind people and other disabled people with complex needs.

At the same time, we are committed to making immediate improvements. We will give disabled people more independence in their own homes through continued investment in the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which funds practical changes that suit individual people’s needs. We have provided an uplift of £172 million across this and the last financial year, bringing the total funding for the DFG to £711 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The Government understands the vital importance of coproduction, working directly with people who draw on care and support, including deafblind people and others with complex needs, to design policies that work for them to make their lives better.