Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether local authorities continue to provide services to all the clients involved when a registered provider of adult social care hands back a contract; and what assessment has been made of the additional cost local authorities may incur when such contracts are handed back.

The Department does not collect detailed information about local contracting.

Commissioning high quality social care is the responsibility of local government which is best placed to understand the needs of local people and communities, and how best to meet them.

Local authorities have legal duties to facilitate effective local markets, supporting people to have choice. The Department supports local authorities in meeting their market shaping duties when commissioning services and provides further support and guidance through sector-led improvement programmes.

The Department has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association, the care sector and other partners to produce a wide range of guidance and support about market shaping and commissioning. We have brought this together in an online hub called Adult Social Care Market Shaping, which is an online only resource, widely available to people and organisations, including local authorities, service users, and care providers.

Where a care provider ‘hands back’ a contract to a local authority, the authority remains responsible for meeting the needs of people who previously had services provided under the contract and for arranging replacement services. Where a care provider fails financially and services cease, potentially abruptly, the local authority has duties under the Care Act 2014 to step in and ensure people’s needs continue to be met, regardless of who pays.