Reasons for Not Adopting COVID-19 Permitted Changes to Legal Duties: Accounts from English Local Authorities

In England, “easements,” introduced via the Coronavirus Act 2020, were brought in at the start of the pandemic to support English local authority adult social care services. They enabled local authorities to suspend some of their mandatory duties under the Care Act 2014. Easements were only adopted...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health & social care in the community 2023-06, Vol.2023, p.1-7
Main Authors: Baginsky, Mary, Thomas, Emily, Manthorpe, Jill
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coronaviruses
Councils
COVID-19
Decision making
Disease transmission
Easements
Ethics
Expenditures
Interviews
Local government
Medical research
Metropolitan areas
Pandemics
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Summary:In England, “easements,” introduced via the Coronavirus Act 2020, were brought in at the start of the pandemic to support English local authority adult social care services. They enabled local authorities to suspend some of their mandatory duties under the Care Act 2014. Easements were only adopted by eight local authorities and for short periods, and the provision was rescinded in late 2021. This article examines why a sample of 16 local authorities, some of which were statistically close to the eight local authorities that did decide to use easements, decided not to do so. It draws on data from interviews undertaken in 2021 with Directors of Adult Services and Principal Social Workers that explored their decision-making about using easements. It also outlines their preparations prior to the pandemic reaching England, how they had operated using “flexibilities” within the Care Act thus not needing to adopt easements, and their views on those authorities that had adopted them.
ISSN:1365-2524
0966-0410
1365-2524
DOI:10.1155/2023/8447118