Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis published by the Local Government Association on 4 June that adult social care providers may face £6.6 billion in extra costs by the end of September as a result of COVID-19; and how they expect those costs to be met.

We recognise that COVID-19 is imposing significant pressures on the social care sector. We have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including in adult social care.

On 15 May we published details of an additional £600 million Infection Control Fund for Adult Social Care. This funding is to support adult social care providers in England reduce the rate of transmission in and between care homes and to support workforce resilience.

This funding is part of the Government’s commitment to ensure the health and social care system have all the resources they need during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government will continue to monitor pressures in the National Health Service and local government and will keep future funding under review.