Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has taken steps to introduce mandatory basic training for those working in private healthcare with people with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism.

There is a mandatory requirement under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 for all Care Quality Commission regulated providers, including those in private healthcare, to ensure that their employees have the appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal necessary to carry out the duties they are employed to perform.

As set out in ‘‘Right to be heard’: The Government’s response to the consultation on learning disability and autism training for health and care staff’ published in 2019, we have allocated £1.4 million to develop and trial the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in learning disability and autism for all health and social care staff. This training is intended to ensure that health and social care staff have the skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care.