Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities comply with their statutory duties under section 1 of the Care Act 2014 to promote individual wellbeing when making decisions about residential care placements.

The relevant guidance issued by the Department is the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, issued under the Care Act 2014. This makes clear that local authorities must take into account a person’s circumstances and preferences when arranging care, including when reviewing existing care home placements. They must promote the wellbeing of those drawing on care, beginning with an assumption that the individual drawing on care is best placed to judge what they require for their own wellbeing. This applies equally to those entering care for the first time and to those who have been self-funders but, because of diminishing resources, are on the verge of needing local authority support.

Where an individual is assessed as requiring support in a residential care home and they are eligible for means tested support from their local authority, the local authority must ensure that the individual drawing on care is offered a genuine choice of accommodation. This must include at least one option which is affordable within the person’s personal budget, and should include more than one option. If suitable accommodation is not available at the amount identified in a personal budget, the local authority must arrange care in a more expensive setting and adjust the budget accordingly to ensure that needs are met.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed. The CQC is under a duty to inform my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if they consider an authority is failing to discharge its functions. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has powers to intervene where he is satisfied that authorities have failed or are failing to discharge Care Act functions to an acceptable standard. Reports are made available on the CQC’s website at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/