Southern Cross Care Homes

Roberta Blackman-Woods Excerpts
Tuesday 12th July 2011

(13 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Paul Burstow Portrait Paul Burstow
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My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has already made statements and commitments about looking at the business model and at why it was thought to be appropriate for this sector.

Roberta Blackman-Woods Portrait Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)
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I met my local authority a few weeks ago to discuss the Southern Cross situation and it was obvious that it was not totally prepared for the complete withdrawal of Southern Cross from the social care market. Will the Minister tell the House whether he has issued or intends to issue guidance to local authorities on how to deal with this situation?

Paul Burstow Portrait Paul Burstow
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It is not a question of trying to write guidance in Whitehall. This is about our engagement with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services about how directors discharge their statutory responsibilities. Writing guidance does not deal with the immediate changes. We need to ensure that local authorities’ existing legal obligations to ensure continuity of care are properly exercised.