Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that local authorities are able to provide training to local health services on the needs of residents with learning disabilities.

As set out in regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, service providers must ensure their staff have the necessary training to carry out their roles and responsibilities.

The government has introduced, from 1 July 2022, a requirement for Care Quality Commission registered service providers to ensure their employees receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role, as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022.

The government has developed and trialled the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training for all health and care staff, based on the respective Core Capability Frameworks for learning disability and for autism. This training will be made available later this year.