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HEALTH
Contingencies Fund
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr. Stephen Ladyman): The Department of Health is to meet an urgent cash requirement for new services from the Contingencies Fund. Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £22 million for the set-up of these new services will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Department. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £11.3 million will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
The expenditure is required to ensure the set-up of two new bodies detailed in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill currently before Parliament. The Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection [CHAI] and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) are planned to come into effect on 1 April 2004, subject to the successful passage of the Bill. This date is key for delivering operational effectiveness gains (including retention of valuable professional expertise and the goodwill of existing inspectors and staff) which would otherwise be lost or significantly delayed.
CHAI will take over the work of the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC), the national NHS value for money work of the Audit Commission and the independent healthcare work of the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC). CSCI will take on the social care services work of NCSC, the work of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) and the Joint Review team of the SSI/Audit Commission. SSI is currently a part of the Department of Health. The speedy integration of these constituent bodies will provide a
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strengthened inspection and audit function and thus improvements in the commissioning and delivery of health and social services.
The Contingencies Fund allows for cash advances to departments for expenditure on urgent services in anticipation of parliamentary approval.
National Care Standards Commission : Annual Report
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr. Stephen Ladyman): The National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) was established under the Care Standards Act 2000 as part of the Government's reforms to modernise the regulatory system for care services and independent healthcare. Its main aim is to drive up the quality of services and improve the level of protection for vulnerable people by the regulation of social care and independent health care services. It carries out regular inspections of services against national minimum standards set by the Secretary of State and has strong powers of enforcement to ensure that services meet the required standards. The NCSC is an independent, non-departmental public body, with its own chair, chief executive, board and inspection staff.
The NCSC's management statement sets out that, at the end of each financial year, the Commission shall publish an annual report, together with its audited annual accounts. The reports and accounts should outline the NCSC's main activities and performance during the previous financial year and set out a summary of its forward plans. The management statement also sets out that the report and accounts will be laid before Parliament.
The NCSC has just come to the end of its first year of operation. This will therefore be its first annual report.
Copies of the NCSC's annual report for 2002–03 have been placed in the Library.