Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities where people are placed in care are undertaking their statutory Care Act 2014 Section 42 safeguarding duties consistently.

We work collaboratively with leaders in local government to support sector-led improvement in safeguarding practice and fund the Care and Health Improvement Programme. We have supported experts including the Social Care Institute for Excellence to provide information and resources on safeguarding. The Health and Care Bill will introduce a new duty for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties, including safeguarding. The Department is working closely with the CQC and other stakeholders to design a system which will ensure the best possible outcomes for care users.