Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the primary causes of care home closures in England.

The Department does not collect data on the causes of care home closures in England. Adult social care services are provided through a largely outsourced market of commercial organisations and charities. Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations, and to develop and build local market capacity.

Care providers entering and exiting is a normal part of a functioning market, and local authorities should have appropriate contingency plans in place depending on the services being provided. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities also have a temporary duty to ensure continuity of care in the event of business failure. This means that people continue to receive the care and support they need if their adult social care provider is no longer able to carry on delivering services.