HC Deb 25 February 1985 vol 74 cc74-5W
Mr. Soames

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether agreement has yet been reached on the establishment of a social service inspectorate.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

In April 1983, my right hon. Friend, sent to the chairmen of all social services committees a consultative document proposing development of our Department's social work service—which already exercises inspectorial functions—explicitly into an inspectorate for the local authority social services. In the light of a wide range of helpful comments on the consultative document, the Government have now reached agreement in principle with the local authority associations on the way forward. We have agreed the following joint statement on the arrangements now proposed.

The inspectorate will assist local authorities to obtain value for money through the efficient and economic use of available resources. Its aim will be to help to secure the most effective use of professional and other resources, normally by identifying good practice and spreading knowledge about it.

Inspections will be of 3 main types:—

  1. (a) initiated by Ministers and the Department in exercise of the Secretary of State's formal powers of inspection;
  2. (b) undertaken outside formal powers, related to issues of general concern and covering a number of local authorities, by agreement with the authorities concerned and in accordance with a programme agreed by the local authority associations; and
  3. (c) undertaken outside formal powers, but at the request of, or in agreement with, an individual local authority and in relation to specific services or activities of that authority.

Reports written as a result of formal inspections will be made in the first instance to the Secretary of State, but all other reports will be made concurrently to the authorities concerned for their social services committees to see. Reports will normally be documents of public access.Formally, the existing statutory powers of inspection (which are considered sufficient for the purposes of the new Inspectorate) are vested in the Secretary of State, and he will be the Minister responsible for the Inspectorate's management and actions. In practice, however, the programme of work of the Inspectorate outside formal powers will be a joint concern of central and local government. This will be reflected in a Steering Group of representatives of the Department and the local authority associations, with the following terms of reference:To consider the proposals of the Social Services Inspectorate for inspections of local authority personal social services (other than those to be made under statutory powers, or in relation to specific services or activities of an individual authority at the request of or in agreement with that authority); to agree annually a programme of such inspections; and to review from time to time the scope for future work of the Inspectorate.The staff of the Social Services inspectorate will consist of members of the existing Social Work Service, supplemented by staff from relevant disciplines on attachment from local authorities and other organisations, including experts in appropriate branches of management and in performance measurement. The Inspectorate will aim to complement, not compete with, the work of the Audit Commission and will continue existing collaboration with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools, the Probation Inspectorate and the Health Advisory Service.

The new inspectorate will come into operation on 1 April 1985. I should like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the help which we have had from the local authority associations in the consideration of these arrangements.