Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans the Government has in the event a major care provider is in a financial position where it is no longer able to continue to provide its services.

Local authorities retain responsibility for managing provider failure in the social care market. The Government has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and partners to publish guidance to support local authorities to develop contingency plans for managing the failure of a social care provider in their local area. The guidance can be found at:

http://www.lgiu.org.uk/report/care-and-continuity-guide/

The Government is working with local authorities to ensure they have effective and up to date plans in place.

The Care Act also gave the Care Quality Commission (CQC) a new function to oversee the finances of care providers which are either large or whose provision is geographically concentrated as their financial failure would make it difficult for local authorities to discharge their statutory responsibilities.

The oversight function will provide early warning to relevant local authorities in the event that one of these providers is likely to fail and their services cease. This will allow local authorities time to implement contingency plans.

The Government is working with the CQC and the sector to monitor risks to the system and will develop bespoke contingency plans to support local government to manage provider failure, where appropriate.