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Residential and Nursing Homes

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) residential and (b) nursing homes closed in London in (i) 1999, (ii) 2000 and (iii) 2001. [69966]

Jacqui Smith: The number of residential care homes and nursing homes 1 for each year since 1997 is given in the tables.

Information on nursing homes is collected at health authority rather than local authority level.


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Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contingency arrangements (a) his Department and (b) the National Care Standards Commission have made to advise care home managers concerning their legal obligations in respect of staff awaiting the results of a criminal record check after 1 August; how many care home staff are awaiting a clearance check by the Criminal Records Bureau; how long they have been waiting; and what action a home failing to comply with staffing regulations because of delays by the Criminal Records Bureau will be required to take. [71202]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 22 July 2002]: All the statutory regulations are immediately accessible on the Department's website and the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) internet website. The Care Homes Regulations were published in December 2001 following extensive consultation and were immediately placed on the Department's website.

The NCSC wrote to all pre-existing care homes on 8 March 2002 with a guide to the application of the Care Standards Act. The guide included general information about legal requirements, including the requirement for care homes to obtain criminal records checks on staff. The guide included addresses for obtaining more information. The guide also included an application form for providers

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to apply for the relevant national standards document. Each set of national standards includes the appropriate regulations at the back.

The NCSC sent a registration pack to all unregistered care homes in February 2002 and sends a registration pack to all new applicants. The pack advises applicants to check the legal requirements before submitting their application to the NCSC.

In addition, the NCSC wrote to all providers in June reminding them of their obligations. This information can be found on the NCSC's website, which also sets out guidance to help providers manage their staff recruitment until the Criminal Records Bureau is fully meeting its targets. The NCSC has also co-operated with the care homes' umbrella organisations, to arrange for publication of this information on their internal sites.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received in connection with the implementation of standards 21.3 and 22.2 of the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People; if he will place them in the Library; what assessment he has made of the impact of standards 21.3 and 22.2 of the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People on the availability of beds in residential care and nursing homes; what estimate he has

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made of the impact on the number of care homes of the requirement of complying with the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People; and what estimate he has made of the average amount that each care home will have to spend in order to comply with the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People. [65040]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not easily available. The Department has received a large number of letter about national standards from care home owners, their representatives and other interested parties. Some of these letters include reference to paragraph 21.3 or paragraph 22.2 or both. Separating out all those letters which mention these paragraphs and placing them in the Library would involve disproportionate cost.

On 23 July my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health announced his intention to issue for consultation an amended set of physical environment standards. The aim of the amendments is to remove the requirement for care homes which existed before 1 April 2002 to conform to certain physical environment standards, including standards 21.3 and 22.2. For pre-existing care homes these standards would in future be regarded as good practice to which all care homes should aspire.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the situation facing local authorities and the private sector with regard to care homes. [71762]

Jacqui Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement on older people's services which my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State made to the House on 23 July at columns 869–72.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes have (a) opened and (b) closed in each region in each of the last five years. [72545]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what figures he has collated of the average cost over the past five years, by region, for residents of a private care home. [72384]

Jacqui Smith: Information on care home fee levels is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may find it helpful to consult reports of the recent annual surveys of the care home sector undertaken by consultants Laing and Buisson. These contain information on the average weekly fees in each region charged by private care homes for elderly people.

The social services performance assessment framework indicators published in October 2001 contain information on councils' unit costs for providing residential and nursing care for different client groups. A copy of this document is available in the Library.

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential care home places for elderly people were closed in (a) England and (b) the NHS during the last 12 months. [72951]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.

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