Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181090 on Disability: Debt Collection, for what reason his Department has not made an assessment of the mental health impact of using bailiffs to recover arrears of non-residential charges from people with disabilities.

Each local authority is responsible for managing its own debt recovery processes under the Care Act 2014 and, as such, no national level assessment has been made. All debt recovery systems should be designed with a full understanding of the needs and capacities of the local population, including how different approaches may impact a person’s wellbeing. Local authorities also have a general duty to promote a person’s wellbeing and, as such, must consider whether debt has accrued due to factors outside of a person’s control.