Local authorities have ‘inherently weak’ position in market and shift to national or regional commissioning of placements should be considered, says Competition and Markets Authority

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England looks at the quality of care over the past year – the first of these reports to cover a full year of the pandemic.

Homecare plays a vital role in enabling us all to live well at home and flourish in our communities, regardless of age or ability.

A new report from the Homecare Association details the findings of enquiries, made under freedom of information legislation, to 340 public organisations which purchase homecare across the United Kingdom.

Since 2012, successive governments have set targets to reduce the number of people with learning disabilities and/or autism in inpatient settings, in favour of being cared for in the community. However, though progress has been made, to date these targets have not been achieved. Leading in turn to calls for further action and investment, and for funding incentives to ensure those with learning disabilities and/or autism are cared for in the most appropriate settings.

This report summarises the findings of the work and, for the first time, sets out the factors that govern active travel behaviours in people aged 50 to 70 across the UK.

This briefing outlines the legal and policy background to the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 and provides an overview of the main provisions in the new Act.