To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements his Department has for oversight of the governance and management practices of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. (190570)

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent regulatory body and as such is responsible for its own internal management practices.

The Government have reviewed the governance of all the health care regulatory bodies and published their proposals in the White Paper, “Trust, Assurance and Safety— The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century”. These include a number of reforms to the governance of the regulatory bodies, such as the introduction of appointment only councils that are smaller and more board-like.

The Government established the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) in April 2003 with functions that include promoting best practice and consistency in the regulation of health care professionals and reporting on the performance of regulators' various functions. As part of its responsibilities, CHRE undertakes an annual performance review, of which governance is a key factor, of all of the health care regulators.