Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of a publicly owned provider option in adult social care on workforce retention rates.

The Hon. Member has raised a number of important issues in his questions, all of which are under consideration by the Department, as we develop our social care workforce plan for publication in the coming months, and by Baroness Casey’s commission, as she develops her proposals for a National Care Service. The Government has brought Baroness Casey’s final report forward to summer next year, and we will set out next steps once that report is received.