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<p>We are determined to find a long-term solution to the challenges in social care
to ensure that every person is treated with dignity and offered the security they
deserve. We will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly.</p><p>Integration
across health and social care enables improved co-operation and joint decision-making
between health and social care partners in delivering shared outcomes. The Government
is already taking steps to integrate health and social care funding through the Better
Care Fund (BCF), the national policy driving forward the integration of health and
social care in England.</p><p>In 2019, 93% of local areas agreed that joint working
had improved as a result of the BCF. The budgets reflect that cooperation: local areas
have voluntarily pooled around £2 billion above the minimum required into the BCF
last year.</p><p>In the recent Spending Round, we confirmed that the BCF and the improved
BCF will continue in 2020-21. We are currently reviewing how the BCF can best support
the closer integration of health and care and will provide local areas with further
details about the BCF beyond 2020 as part of an announcement on the review.</p><p>
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