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Health Inspectorates

Volume 402: debated on Tuesday 25 March 2003

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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the relationship between his Department and the (a) Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection and (b) Commission for Social Care Inspection. [104209]

The Chancellor announced the creation of two new independent inspectorates for health and social care in his budget statement 2002. The Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection and the Commission for Social Care Inspection will be established as non-departmental public bodies, independent of ministers, operating at arms length from the Government. They will each have a duty to report annually to Parliament on the state of health and social care. These independent assessments will strengthen public accountability and provide annual benchmarks of the quality of health and social care provision, and of the effectiveness of investment in public services.