Under section 9(5) of the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to involve the adult concerned and, where appropriate, their carers, family members, or others with an interest in their welfare, when carrying out a needs assessment and considering how care and support needs should be met.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are also tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.

Local authorities should engage with people who draw on care and support, and their families and carers, to inform commissioning decisions and to consider the outcomes which matter to them. This is reflected in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which supports local authorities to fulfil their Care Act duties, including expectations around involvement and co‑production with people who draw on care and support and their families.

Under the Health and Care Act 2022, the Care Quality Commission has a statutory duty to assess how well local authorities are delivering their adult social care duties.

The intention of Care Quality Commission (CQC) Regulation 19 Fit and proper persons employed of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 is to make sure providers only employ 'fit and proper' staff who are able to provide care and treatment appropriate to their role and to enable them to provide the regulated activity.

To meet this regulation, providers must operate robust recruitment procedures, including undertaking any relevant checks. They must have a procedure for ongoing monitoring of staff to make sure they remain able to meet the requirements, and they must have appropriate arrangements in place to deal with staff who are no longer fit to carry out the duties required of them.

In addition, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check must be undertaken prior to the recruitment of all care workers. If an individual has been barred, then they will be added to the Adults’ Barred List. If they knowingly engage, or seek to engage, in regulated activity with a vulnerable group from which they are barred then they would be committing a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine. The same is true for employers who knowingly employ somebody who is on the barred list.

The intention of Care Quality Commission (CQC) Regulation 19 Fit and proper persons employed of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 is to make sure providers only employ 'fit and proper' staff who are able to provide care and treatment appropriate to their role and to enable them to provide the regulated activity.

To meet this regulation, providers must operate robust recruitment procedures, including undertaking any relevant checks. They must have a procedure for ongoing monitoring of staff to make sure they remain able to meet the requirements, and they must have appropriate arrangements in place to deal with staff who are no longer fit to carry out the duties required of them.

The CQC can assess compliance with these regulations through assessment and monitoring activity. Where a breach of regulation or non-compliance is identified, The CQC can take regulatory action.

An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check must be undertaken prior to the recruitment of all care workers. In line with the CQC guidance for DBS checks, staff working with vulnerable adults can only start work before a DBS certificate is received if they have had a DBS Adult First Check, are appropriately supervised, and do not escort people away from the premises unless accompanied by someone with a DBS check.

Decisions about care placements are made locally, based on individual assessments of need and personal circumstances. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets and commission services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a variety of different providers and specialist services that provide genuine choice to meet the needs of local people, and that offer quality and value for money.

There is no single national assessment of the impact of out‑of‑area placements on disabled adults and their families. However, local authorities should engage with people who draw on care and support, and their families and carers, to inform commissioning decisions and to consider the outcomes which matter to them. This is reflected in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which supports local authorities to fulfil their Care Act duties, including expectations around involvement and co‑production with people who draw on care and support and their families.

Decisions about care placements are made locally, based on individual assessments of need and personal circumstances. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets and commission services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a variety of different providers and specialist services that provide genuine choice to meet the needs of local people, and that offer quality and value for money.

There is no single national assessment of the impact of out‑of‑area placements on disabled adults and their families. However, local authorities should engage with people who draw on care and support, and their families and carers, to inform commissioning decisions and to consider the outcomes which matter to them. This is reflected in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which supports local authorities to fulfil their Care Act duties, including expectations around involvement and co‑production with people who draw on care and support and their families.

The Department does not collect data specifically on the number of adults with learning disabilities who are placed outside their local authority area. However, national statistics on adults with learning disabilities receiving long-term support are published annually in the Adult Social Care Activity Report.

Where out-of-area placements are made, local authorities have a duty under the Care Act 2014 to ensure that, among other things, decisions are based on a consideration of each individual's needs and preferences.

When a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect an adult in the local authority’s area has care and support needs, is at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, and cannot protect themselves because of those needs, it must carry out a safeguarding enquiry.

Local authorities must work with their partners under section 6(7) of the Care Act 2014, and those partners must also work with the authority to carry out their care, support, and adult protection duties.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out to tackle health inequalities and offer people with disabilities more holistic, on-going support in the community.

Action is underway to improve access and support for people with a learning disability through mandatory training for health and care staff, continued uptake of annual health checks and health action plans, and the Mental Health Act reforms.

When a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect an adult in the local authority’s area has care and support needs, is at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, and cannot protect themselves because of those needs, it must carry out a safeguarding enquiry.

Local authorities must work with their partners under section 6(7) of the Care Act 2014, and those partners must also work with the authority to carry out their care, support, and adult protection duties.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out to tackle health inequalities and offer people with disabilities more holistic, on-going support in the community.

Action is underway to improve access and support for people with a learning disability through mandatory training for health and care staff, continued uptake of annual health checks and health action plans, and the Mental Health Act reforms.

Anyone who is concerned that an adult with care and support needs is at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, can contact the safeguarding adults team at the relevant local authority to raise a safeguarding enquiry.

Where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in the local authority’s area has needs for care and support, whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs, and appears to be at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves as a result of those needs, the local authority must carry out a safeguarding enquiry.

Under section 68 of the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide an independent advocate for adults involved in safeguarding enquiries when they would otherwise struggle to understand, retain, use, or weigh information, or to communicate their views.

Anyone who is concerned that an adult with care and support needs is at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, can contact the safeguarding adults team at the relevant local authority to raise a safeguarding enquiry.

Where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in the local authority’s area has needs for care and support, whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs, and appears to be at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves as a result of those needs, the local authority must carry out a safeguarding enquiry.

Under section 68 of the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide an independent advocate for adults involved in safeguarding enquiries when they would otherwise struggle to understand, retain, use, or weigh information, or to communicate their views.

Decisions about care placements are made locally, based on individual assessments of need and personal circumstances. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets and commission services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a variety of different providers and specialist services that provide genuine choice to meet the needs of local people, and that offer quality and value for money.

There is no single national assessment of the impact of out‑of‑area placements on disabled adults and their families. However, local authorities should engage with people who draw on care and support, and their families and carers, to inform commissioning decisions and to consider the outcomes which matter to them. This is reflected in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which supports local authorities to fulfil their Care Act duties, including expectations around involvement and co‑production with people who draw on care and support and their families.

The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 require local authorities that provide adult social care services to have complaints procedures that follow a certain process. They should work with the person raising the complaint to try and resolve it.

If someone is not satisfied with the outcome of their complaint to the local authority, then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) can investigate individual concerns. The LGSCO is the independent complaints lead for adult social care and investigates complaints from those receiving social care. Details of how to complain to the LGSCO can be found at the following link:

https://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint

There is also a help and advice line available via telephone on 0300 061 0614, or one can write to The Local Government Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH.

The Department does not hold data on either the number of people waiting for a glaucoma follow-up appointment or the length of waiting time for any such glaucoma follow-up appointment. Therefore, no current estimate has been made.

Data is published on ophthalmology waiting times from referral to treatment, but this is not broken down by condition and does not cover follow up appointments that occur after a patient’s first definitive treatment.

As of January 2026, the waiting list for ophthalmology stands at 602,163, with 69.8% of those having waited less than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Battersea on 18 March 2026 to Question 119439.

All food and feed additives permitted for use in the United Kingdom must undergo a comprehensive, evidence‑based safety assessment before approval. This process evaluates potential risks and ensures additives can only be used in specified food categories, at controlled levels, and with any necessary labelling requirements.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for assessing and authorising new additives and for reviewing changes to existing approvals. To support transparency and public confidence, the FSA publishes its scientific risk assessments and consults publicly on proposed authorisations so that stakeholders and consumers can provide their views before decisions are made.

I replied to the Hon. Member’s correspondence on 19 November.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

One of the three shifts that the 10-Year Health Plan will deliver is the shift of healthcare from the hospital into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift and were highlighted in the plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.

I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all- age palliative and end of life care, in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. ICBs, including the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, which covers the Stafford constituency, are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

As set out in the Government’s recently published 10-Year Health Plan, we are determined to shift more care out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift, and were highlighted in the plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.

The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that, in future, services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining how to operationalise the required shifts in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.