Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with private care providers on the recent increase in rates of under occupancy in care homes in England.
Ministers regularly meet adult social care sector organisers including provider representatives and providers themselves to discuss current issues including the impact of COVID-19 on the sector.
Decisions on commissioning and provider occupancy rates are a matter for individual local authorities, who have a duty to ensure a sustainable and high quality adult social care market in their areas. We have now made £3.7 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including declines in occupancy in care homes.