Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
The Department highlighted “the excellent work” within the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC)...
Conclusion
The Department highlighted “the excellent work” within the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) as an example of “that deepening of the connection with local government”.28 In June 2020, DHSC created the Social Care Sector COVID-19 Support Taskforce to oversee the delivery of two packages of support for the care sector as well as support the government’s work on community outbreaks and consider how to reduce the risk of infection in care homes and the wider social care sector. The Taskforce was chaired by an individual with substantial operational experience as the former President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and drew members from across the sector. In September 2020, the Taskforce published its report setting out progress and learning from the first phase of the pandemic and recommendations to help improve resilience in the sector. As part of this, it recommended that DHSC “significantly boosts its own expertise and capacity in relation to social care”, to continue beyond the pandemic, and used this expertise to link effectively with regional and local structures. This included bringing in senior local authority figures with experience within social care and public health.29
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2021 3.2 The department has worked closely with other government departments to ensure a coordinated response that takes close account of local government financial pressures, including on the design of the Local authority COVID-19 financial impact monthly monitoring, and through communication of the results. The department has also led sector engagement and ensured two-way communication between other departments and local authorities, including meetings on specific policy problems, as well as virtual visits and themed roundtables, to encourage knowledge-sharing. 3.3 The department has utilised established processes and cross-Whitehall relationships at every level, helping to embed local government finance intelligence – both technical expertise and monthly monitoring data - into policy-making processes at the earliest opportunity. 3.4 The department will work alongside other government departments to help them assess what steps can be taken to further a greater understanding of local government finance. 3.5 The department will coordinate a written response to the Committee by October 2021 outlining how each department plans to improve, and then maintain, their understanding of the operational realities of local government finance and the financial pressures authorities face.