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 on the effect of the suspension of the Care Act 2014 in the Coronavirus Act 2020 on deaf and disabled people’s access to social care.

The relevant Public Sector Equality Duty process was undertaken during the development of the Coronavirus Act 2020 and we engaged with groups representing service users prior to the passage of the Bill. The Department has issued guidance setting out steps local authorities should take before deploying the powers in the Act, including upholding the principles of safeguarding, and is working closely with social care and local government partners to monitor the use of Care Act easements. Access to services and how disabled people do so are determined by individual local authorities, who are responsible for complying with the Equality Act.