Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Conclusion 6
1st Report - Unequal impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services: interim Report on temporary provisions in the Coronavirus Act
Published 25 Sep 2020
Paragraph 34
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee Unequal impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Had the pandemic been more clearly under control, we would have recommended repeal of the Care Act easements at the first six-monthly review. However, the current precarious state of the pandemic, combined with the fragility of the social care system, makes repeal a finely balanced judgement call. Throughout the peak of the pandemic earlier this year, only around five per cent of English local authorities triggered easements to their Care Act duties, and none have been relying on them since early July. There is, however, considerable uncertainty about how the virus might progress through the autumn and winter and what the effects might be on local authorities’ capacity to cope with social care demand.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, 1st Report - Unequal impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services: interim Report on temporary provisions in the Coronavirus Act (HC 386), paragraph 34, 25 September 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 25 January 2021.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government "welcomes the Committee's interim recommendations" and sets out actions taken on Care Act easements, the Mental Health Act and EHC plans, while describing the existing parliamentary review arrangements as "flexible and proportionate".
- On Care Act easements, the government says they "should only be used when absolutely necessary", that no local authorities are currently operating under them, and that the changes "will be kept under regular review".
- The Mental Health Act provisions were repealed from the Coronavirus Act on 8 December 2020. On reform, the government will publish a White Paper "as soon as it is possible to do so".
- On EHC plans, no further modification notice was issued after 31 July. The government does not intend to issue further notices "unless the evidence changes".
- On a separate Commons view on individual provisions, the government describes the existing arrangements, including the six-monthly vote, as "a flexible and proportionate response" that ensures ongoing scrutiny.