Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the report by Sense on 2 March 2017 on reductions in the number of people receiving sensory support in the last year; and what steps he is taking to ensure that such disabled people receive support.

Clinical commissioning groups and local authorities must work together to meet the needs of people with disabilities, such as sensory impairment, to enjoy independent lives. The Sense report calls for investment in social care.

The Government is giving local authorities in England an additional £2 billion for social care, to help them meet their duties under the Care Act 2014 to determine the social care needs of people, including those with sensory impairment, and to arrange provision accordingly. £1 billion will be provided in 2017-18, ensuring that councils can start to fund more care packages immediately.

The Disabled Facilities Grant allocation is also increasing – from £220 million in 2015-16, to £394 million in 2016-17; this is integrated into the Better Care Fund to support joint planning across housing, health and care for people with disabilities.