Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has commissioned into the financial liabilities of the social care sector of overnight carers sleeping at their place of work.

The Government has been working with representatives of the social care sector to understand how liabilities of back pay for “sleep-in” shifts impact the provision of care for vulnerable people.

A piece of market analysis was commissioned over the summer to better understand the scale of the liability and a piece of qualitative research was conducted to assess any impact on providers. The Government intends to continue to strengthen the evidence base, engaging more widely with the social care sector to build on the work that has already been done.