Adult Social Care Intervention
Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 sets out a wide range of care and support duties and functions (functions relate to the processes, activities or broader responsibilities that local authorities perform), for which local authorities are responsible. These include the direct provision or commissioning of adult social care services.
	Section 164 of this Act inserts a new section 72A into the Care Act 2014. Section 72A contains powers for the Secretary of State to issue directions to local authorities where the Secretary of State is satisfied that they are failing or have failed to discharge their functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 to an acceptable standard.
	These powers are part of the approach to oversight and support of the adult social care sector, underpinned by other Act provisions to provide for data collection and routine CQC assurance of local authority performance. These new powers enable Secretary of State to intervene to secure improvement where necessary.
	In light of these new intervention powers, two pieces of existing legislation will be amended:
Section 165 makes amendments to section 50 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, so that in every case where the CQC considers that a local authority is failing to discharge its functions to an acceptable standard, it must inform the Secretary of State and must recommend any special measures it considers that the Secretary of State should take.
Section 164 makes amendments to section 7D of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, taking local authority duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 out of scope of the powers conferred by section 7D.