Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to clinical commissioning groups regarding workforce planning (a) across the board and (b) for social workers on hospital wards.

The Department does not provide guidance for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) or hospitals on social work workforce planning.

Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning of social care services.

It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure they have the right number of staff with the right skills through their workforce planning processes.

Health Education England is supporting the workforce elements of the Sustainability and Transformation Plans by establishing Local Workforce Action Boards.