Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the Government's policy is on social care.

Social care is vital to enable people to live healthy and independent lives. This is why, against the context of tough public sector finances, we have taken steps to protect social care services.

The Government has already invested an additional £2 billion to put social care on a more stable footing and alleviate short-term pressures across the health and care system. However, further reform is required to ensure that the system is prepared to meet the challenges of the increasing numbers of over 75s.

We will work to address the challenges of social care for our ageing population, bringing forward proposals for consultation to build widespread support. We have committed to a wide and open consultation on our proposals, and want to work collaboratively with partners on these critical issues.

We will provide further details on the next steps on social care in due course.