Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of a range of housing and care options for people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties.

The Department has not made any assessments of the availability of a range of housing and care options for people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties.

The new Care Act, which will come into force in 2015, will give local authorities a core duty to promote their local market, with a particular focus on ensuring diversity, quality and sustainability which, importantly, will mean there should be sufficient high quality services available to meet the needs of individuals in their local area.

The Department has worked with stakeholders, including provider organisations, to develop draft statutory guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act. The guidance will describe how local authorities must meet these new duties, including encouraging sustainability through appropriate fee levels. The draft guidance was published as part of a 10-week public consultation on the full package of regulations and guidance under part 1 of the Care Act on 6 June.

The Government believes that people who wish and who are able to live in their communities, rather than in an institutional care setting, should be given the support they need to do so.