To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) staff and (b) staff engaged in inspection work have been employed by (i) the Commission for Health Improvement, (ii) the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, (iii) the National Care Standards Commission and (iv) the Social Services Inspectorate in each year since 1997. [105868]
The information requested is as follows: The Commission. for Health Improvement (CHD):The CHI came into being on 1 November 1999 and began to conduct a rolling programme of clinical governance reviews in 2001. The number of staff and number of staff engaged in inspection work in each year since 1999 is shown in the table.
| Year | Staff employed | Staff engaged in inspection work |
| 1999–2000 | 111 | 15 |
| 2000–01 | 248 | 44 |
| 2001–02 | 330 | 50 |
| 2002–03 | 334 | 51 |
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE):
The NICE was established in April 1999. It is a special health authority, set up to give advice on best clinical practice to National Health Service clinicians, to those commissioning NHS services and to patients and carers. None of NICE's staff are involved in inspection work. The number of staff is shown in the table.
Year
| Staff employed
| Staff engaged in inspection work
|
| 1999–2000 | 17 | Not applicable |
| 2000–01 | 32 | |
| 2001–02 | 40 | |
| 2002–03 | 59 |
The National Care Standards Commission (NCS0):
The NCSC became fully operational on 1 April 2002. It is responsible for registration and inspection of health and social care services in England. The number of staff and number of staff engaged in inspection work in each year since 2002 is shown in the table.
2002–03
| Number
|
| Staff employed | 2,285 |
| Staff engaged in inspection work | 1,350 |
The Social Services Inspectorate (SSI):
The SSI is a division of the Department of Health. The structure and functions of both the Department and the SSI have changed over the period covered in the following table. The SSI inspects councils with social services responsibilities in England and from this and other evidence, it assesses and reports on councils' performance, and where necessary makes recommendations for improvement. The number of staff and the number of staff engaged in inspection work, in each year is shown in the table.
Year
| Staff employed
| Staff engaged in inspection work
|
| 1997–98 | 156 | 92 |
| 1998–99 | 156 | 91 |
| 1999–2000 | 156 | 91 |
| 2000–01 | 198 | 108 |
| 2001–02 | 229 | 127 |
| 2002–03 | 236 | 120 |
The number of SSI staff involved with inspection reduced in 2002–03 because inspections of voluntary children's homes transferred from the SSI to the NCSC. SSI took on additional non-inspection work relating to the star ratings of local councils with social services responsibilities and contributing to the comprehensive performance assessments of councils. The SSI continued its programme of children's service inspections during 2002–03. The additional work following the publication of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry report at the end of January 2003 will impact on the SSI's workload in 2003–04.