Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to help local authorities provide oversight of agency companies that provide social care services.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England with oversight to ensure services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care, encouraging services to improve. The CQC regulates residential and community adult social care providers, using their regulatory powers to act where poor care is identified. Additionally, the Health and Care Act 2022 gave the CQC new powers to assess how well local authorities meet their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. CQC assessments will look at how local authorities work with people, providing support, safety in the system and leadership.