Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will ringfence funding for independent patient advocacy services after the abolition of Healthwatch.

The independent complaints advocacy service in the National Health Service is covered by a wider grant for Local Reform and Community Voices and is not a requirement of Healthwatch England or Local Healthwatch. This grant provides funding to local authorities which assists them in meeting statutory duties. This funding will continue to be provided. This grant has not been ringfenced to date and there are no plans to ringfence it, moving forward.