Domestic Violence: Older People
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to review legal protections around the (a) abuse and (b) neglect of older people.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones
Any form of elder abuse or neglect is unacceptable. Whilst the Government has no immediate plans to conduct a specific review of the range of legal protections already in place around the abuse and neglect of older people, it continues to engage with partners about this serious issue.
In the meantime, there are already robust safeguards in place. Local authorities have a statutory duty to investigate safeguarding concerns under the Care Act 2014. The statutory guidance of the Care Act 2014 makes it clear that local authorities must ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective and of high quality. Since April 2023, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have had a duty to assess local authorities’ delivery of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2024.
The first formal assessment of local authorities began in December 2023, shortly after the CQC concluded its pilot assessments in November. The CQC has published its first three local authority ratings and reports and is rolling out assessments to all 153 local authorities in England.
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