Member

Finally, I turn to Amendment 108, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill, requiring local authorities to retain safeguarding responsibilities when they place households outside their area. Our starting point and focus must always be how to best protect the most vulnerable people, with practical arrangements and responsibilities designed to ensure continuity in safe- guarding. Wherever possible, local authorities should avoid placing households subject to safeguarding arrangements outside the local area, but where such placements are necessary then social care services must work together across boundaries to ensure that the individuals continue to be protected, by whichever local authority is best placed to deliver effective safeguarding.