Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the reply by Baroness Merron on 15 September (HL Deb col 1073) that health and well-being boards "are responsible for drawing up the local plans for what the locality needs" to whom the health and well-being board is accountable if they do not deliver sufficient social care at the neighbourhood level

Health and wellbeing boards are statutory committees of local authorities with a strategic role in assessing local needs and developing plans for improving health and wellbeing. They are not responsible for delivering adult social care services.

Neighbourhood health plans set out the agreed strategy for meeting health and care needs of a local population. As set out in guidance, these plans are developed jointly by local government, the National Health Service, and their partners, and form part of a continuous process of strategic assessment and planning.

Responsibility for the commissioning and delivery of adult social care remains with local authorities. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have duties to shape their local and ensure the availability of services that meet the needs of their population.

Local authorities are accountable for the discharge of those statutory responsibilities through the established local government accountability framework.