Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve access to care need s assessments for (a) deaf and (b) blind people in Surrey Heath constituency.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that deaf and blind people can access needs assessments. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duty to undertake needs assessments. Needs assessments for deaf and blind people will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will report on how local authorities work with deaf and blind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Surrey County Council, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/surrey-1124

By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to improve access to needs assessments for everyone who needs it, including deaf and blind people.