Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of social workers needed to implement the Government's proposed changes to assessment in Adult Social Care in England.

Our estimate of the future demand for additional needs assessments as a result of charging reform will be published in the forthcoming Charging Reform Impact Assessment.

We are unable to make a robust assessment of the impact this demand will have on social worker numbers, while local authorities are still considering local approaches to capacity management. We are working closely with the Trailblazer authorities and will continue to monitor local authorities’ plans for and experience of implementing reforms.