A total of 611,590 adults aged between 18 and 64 years old made requests for social care support in 2022/23. Of these, 216,135, or 35.3%, did not receive support from their local authority. Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. Where a person is assessed as having eligible care and support needs, the local authority should then carry out a financial assessment to determine what they can afford to contribute towards the cost of meeting their care need. Where individuals do not meet the eligibility threshold, they can get support from their local authorities in making their own arrangements for care services, as set out in the Care Act 2014.

Data from the adult social care short and long-term collection shows that, as of 31 March 2023, 258,940 people aged 18 to 64 years old were receiving long-term support commissioned via, although not necessarily funded by, their local authority. The Department does not hold data centrally on working age adults who are self-funded, or on integrated care board funded care for working age adults.

The Ministry of Defence will continue to strengthen our defence relationship with Japan via the commitments made under the Hiroshima Accord, the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). The Carrier Strike Group's deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2025 will further strengthen UK and Japan defence cooperation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The UK is closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We are working with the US, EU and other key partners, to encourage Pakistan to conduct the economic reforms necessary to ensure long-term, sustainable, growth ahead of any future IMF programme. This includes providing direct technical expertise through our £39 million Revenue Mobilisation Investment and Trade programme, £37.5 million Sustainable Energy and Economic Development programme, and £37.5 million Sub-National Governance programme in Pakistan. The Deputy Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, on 22 March to underline the importance of economic stability and offer the UK's full support on economic reform.

The Social Care Grant is distributed as part of the Local Government Finance Statement. Towards the end of each calendar year, the Government publishes a consultation setting out its proposals for council tax referendum principles, business rates retention and allocation of numerous grants, including the Social Care Grant, for the following financial year. After the consultation closes and any alterations are made, the final Settlement and local authority allocations are published early in the following calendar year and are subject to a debate in the House of Commons. The department also sends local authorities a copy of their allocations along with the Grant Determination for the Social Care Grant at the start of the financial year.

In October 2023 the Counter Disinformation Unit became the National Security and Online Information Team (the NSOIT). The name more accurately reflects the team’s revised remit and function, which is to tackle the greatest national security risks facing the UK from mis and disinformation, specifically looking at threats posed by foreign states, risks to elections and from the use of AI and deepfakes. This revised remit is kept under regular review.

NSOIT’s remit does not include working with individual platforms to tackle mis or disinformation from certain individuals or groups. In specific circumstances, the NSOIT may share online material with platforms where it is in line with ministerial steers, is on an issue within the team’s remit, and where the content appears to be in breach of the platform’s terms of service. Social media platforms decide whether or not content is a breach of their terms of service and, if so, what action to take.

It is a key priority of this government to preserve the integrity of our democratic processes and safeguard the public from interference by malign state and non-state actors, including through AI-enabled threats and manipulated media.

The Online Safety Act will tackle illegal disinformation and misinformation including state-sponsored disinformation via the Foreign Interference Offence, including deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media. This means that companies will have a legal duty to take preventative action to identify and minimise their users’ exposure to state-linked interference with UK society. Such content will need to be swiftly removed, requiring tangible action against state-backed attempts to undermine our democratic, political and legal processes.

In addition to our regulatory approach, the DSIT National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses attempts by foreign states to artificially manipulate the online information environment. The NSOIT works with social media platforms to support and encourage them to put in place policies that are fit for purpose, consistently enforced, and which respect freedom of expression.

Ministers and officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology meet regularly with counterparts from other countries to share our experience and expertise and to develop common approaches to online safety. We work closely with the Government of Australia and recently signed a memorandum of understanding setting out our intention to promote regulatory coordination and jointly deliver online safety and security policy to support our citizens.

The UK government has already delivered world-leading legislation via the Online Safety Act, which captures misinformation and disinformation where it constitutes illegal content or content which is harmful to children, and which forces the largest platforms to remove misinformation and disinformation prohibited under their Terms of Service.

The UK’s AI market is valued at over $21 billion and is estimated to grow to over 1 trillion by 2035. Recently we have seen the largest investment ($1 billion) into a UK AI start-up (Wayve), with several AI companies opening their European headquarters here. Google and Microsoft have recently announced plans to invest $4.2 billion in the UK, demonstrating confidence in the UK’s approach to AI. To encourage further investment, we host the annual Global Investment Summit, we have tax incentives available for AI companies, and we are delivering £1.5bn of investment into compute, all of which will strengthen our position as an attractive place to invest.

During the Foreign Secretary's visit to Central Asian countries in April 2024, he discussed the threat from terrorist groups in Afghanistan with interlocutors. We regularly engage with our partners in Central Asia to build a shared understanding of the threat emanating from Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and cohere our approaches to tackling the threat.

The introduction of regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC) will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for the clinical practice and professional conduct of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs), and make it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and that of doctors.

Whilst statutory regulation is an important part of ensuring patient safety, it is also achieved through robust clinical governance processes within healthcare organisations, which are required to have systems of oversight and supervision for their staff.

NHS England is working with the relevant professional colleges and regulators to ensure the use of associate roles is expanded safely and effectively, and that they are appropriately supported, supervised, and integrated into multidisciplinary teams. NHS England has written to trusts to remind them of their responsibilities in this area, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/ensuring-safe-and-effective-integration-of-physician-associates-into-departmental-multidisciplinary-teams-through-good-practice/

We are clear that AAs and PAs are not, and should never be, referred to as medical practitioners, doctors, or consultants. It is the responsibility of professionals and their employers to ensure professional titles are used appropriately. As set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain their role to the patient. The GMC has published interim standards for AAs and PAs in advance of regulation, which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.

Hospital radio can provide National Health Service patients and visitors with a positive experience at a time when they are feeling vulnerable. NHS trusts work locally with volunteers and organisations to provide this service. Decisions about supporting the service are made most appropriately at a local level.

The Ministry of Justice recently held a consultation about including claimant names on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (the Register). We intend to publish a response to that consultation in due course. That response will set out whether the Government intends to bring forward legislation to allow for the publication of claimant names on the Register.

NHS England published updated policy and guidance on Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) and Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023. The purpose of the updated policy and guidance is to help ensure that people with a learning disability and autistic people get the right support, to stay well in their communities.

NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of DSRs and C(E)TRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon, and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.

A response has been issued to the Chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly Finance Committee’s letter on the Northern Ireland Executive’s restoration financial package.

We keep our defence posture in the South Atlantic under regular review to take account of the full range of developments. I am satisfied that the current military presence in the South Atlantic is at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the Islands.

I thank my right hon. and learned Friend the Chairman of the Select Committee. I am wary of giving too many assurances, because we are talking about a time beyond the next general election, when there will be a new Conservative Government, who will have priorities that they will wish to update.

We know about the success that the shared prosperity fund has had in Northern Ireland. I have visited projects that it has funded. I would like to think that it will continue strongly across the next spending review period.