Carers
30th January 2007
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) voluntary sector organisations' independence is not compromised in relation to their advocacy role for carers and (b) when carrying out carers' assessments under contract to local authorities such arrangements do not lead to statutory carers' assessments being viewed as less important by statutory service providers; [116101]
(2) how many local authorities have put out to tender their statutory carers' assessments to voluntary sector organisations; and what assessment she has made on the outcome for carers of putting such assessments out to tender; [116102]
(3) if she will take steps to encourage local authorities to put out to tender statutory carers' assessments to voluntary sector organisations. [116103]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The duty to carry out a carer's assessment, if requested, lies with the local authority and cannot be delegated except to a national health service body as part of partnership arrangements under section 31 of the Health Act 1999.
A local authority may arrange for the actual process of carrying out the assessment to be undertaken by a voluntary organisation on their behalf. However, the authority remains responsible for ensuring that each assessment is valid, fair and comprehensive and for considering the implications of the assessment for its provision of services.
The number of local authorities who have made arrangements for voluntary sector organisations to assist them by carrying out the process of statutory carers' assessments is not held centrally. We have made no assessment on the outcome for carers of involving voluntary sector organisations in this way. In addition, we have no plans to take steps to encourage local authorities to arrange for the process of assessments to be carried out by voluntary sector organisations.
It is for voluntary sector organisations to satisfy themselves that their independence and any advocacy function that they have is not compromised by their involvement in carers' assessments.
Regardless of who carries out the process of an assessment, local authorities retain the statutory responsibility for those assessments. Local authorities should therefore treat the results of those assessments in precisely the same way as they would those carried out by their own staff.
