Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the temporary Care Act easements, created under the Coronavirus Act 2020, on access to social care for people with mental health problems.

The Department is working with Think Local, Act Personal (TLAP) to understand the impact on individuals of the changes to Care Act 2014 duties. A TLAP Insight Group meets regularly to coordinate intelligence of TLAP partners on the impact and views of people accessing care and support and unpaid carers, in areas that have enacted easements and those that have not. These findings will be publicly available.