Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on the length of time a care and support assessment following a referral should take.

The Government does not intend to impose such a time limit. The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to carry out a needs assessment on any adult with an appearance of having care and support needs, and any carer with the need for support. Local authorities are under a general duty to carry out their functions in a timely manner, and this includes when they should start an assessment following initial contact from the adult or after a referral.

Assessments can take different periods of time to undertake depending on the needs of the adult and their ability to be involved in the assessment. To ensure that assessments are carried out in a manner that is suitable to the adult, the Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014 requires all assessments to be carried out in in an appropriate and proportionate manner and have regard to:

(a) the wishes and preferences of the individual;

(b) the outcomes the individual seeks from the assessment; and

(c) the severity and overall extent of the individual’s needs.

The Care Act statutory guidance clarifies that “an assessment should be carried out over an appropriate and reasonable timescale taking into account the urgency of needs and a consideration of any fluctuation in those needs. Local authorities should inform the individual of an indicative timescale over which their assessment will be conducted and keep the person informed throughout the process”.