Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor whether care assessments carried out under the Care Act 2014 include consideration of any companion animals.

Under the duty to promote well-being in the Care Act, which applies to all care and support functions in the Act, people’s well-being, including emotional well-being and the outcomes that matter to them, must be taken into consideration by local authorities when undertaking an assessment of their needs. This may incorporate an individual’s feelings and wishes about keeping a companion animal, where relevant.