HC Deb 04 April 1989 vol 150 cc71-8W
Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registrations have been cancelled under the provisions of section 30 of the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each year since its implementation.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registrations by region have been(a) made and (b) cancelled under the provision of section 30 of the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each year since its implementation.

Mr. Mellor

The number of cancelled registrations notified to the Department in respect of each region under the provisions of section 30 of the Registered Homes Act 1984 since it came into operation on 1 January 1985 is as follows.

Type of home Number of residents as at 31 March 1987 (provisional) Costs to LAs for year
Under 65 Years 65 years and over 1986–87
supported by local authority Total supported by local authority Total Gross1 £ million Net2 £ million
Local authority 4,234 4,234 100,594 100,594 697.9 415.7
Private 93 33,214 558 484,852 529.1 521.3
Voluntary 2,373 34,848 3,277 425,068
1 Excludes expenditure on administration, training and field work.
2 Of charges paid by residents.
3 Includes residents whose age is not known in homes for younger physically handicapped people.

Region Year Number
Trent regional health authority 1985 1
South East Thames regional health authority 1986 1
Wessex regional health authority
South East Thames regional health authority 1987 2
Northern regional health authority
Yorkshire regional health authority
South West Thames regional health authority 1988 3

Registration is a function of district health authorities and local authorities. The number of new reigstrations is not collected centrally.

Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many persons have had applications for registration rejected under the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each year since its implementation;

(2) how many unregistered residential homes have been discovered by registering authorities under the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each year since its implementation;

(3) how many persons, on a full-time equivalent basis, are employed in inspection of residential homes under the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each of the registration authorities.

Mr. Mellor

We do not hold this information centrally.

Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many persons aged 65 yearsand over were in(a) local authority, (b) voluntary and (c) private residential homes in the latest year for which statistics are available;

(2) what was the total cost of maintaining persons aged 65 years and over in residential homes run by local authorities in the lates year for which statistics are available; and what was the average cost per person;

(3) what was the total cost to local authorities of maintaining persons aged 65 years and over in private residential homes in the latest year for which statistics are available; and what was the average cost per person.

Mr. Mellor

Information on the number of persons aged 65 years and over in homes for the elderly and younger physically handicapped is published in "Residential Accommodation for Elderly and Younger Physically Handicapped People: All Residents in Local Authority, Voluntary and Private Homes Year Ending 31 March 1986" a copy of which is available in the Library. Provisional information as at 31 March 1987 is given in the table, which also shows the available information about local authorities' gross and net expenditure on residential care homes for elderly and younger physically handicapped people for the financial year 1986–87.

4 Includes residents whose age is not known in homes for elderly people.

5 Includes costs for both residents fully supported by the local authority and those receiving partial support.

The average annual costs per resident for local authority homes were £6,658 gross and £3,966 net. It is not possible to give average costs for private and voluntary homes as the cost of residents fully supported by local authorities and the cost of partial support cannot be disaggregated.

Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons have had registrations cancelled under the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each year since its implementation.

Mr. Mellor

The number of persons notified to the Department whose registrations have been cancelled, under the Registered Homes Act 1984, since it came into operation on 1 January 1985 is as follows:

Residential Care Homes Nursing Homes Dually Registered
1985 2 3
1986 16 5
1987 28 4
1988 54 15 2

Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much financial provision has been made by each of the registering authorities for the inspection of residential homes under the terms of the Residential Homes Act 1984.

Mr. Mellor

The latest available figures are shown in the table.

Expenditure on the registration and inspection of residental homes under Regislered Homes Act 1984 in 1987–88
(£ thousand cash)
Administration Costs
Avon 92
Bedfordshire n/a
Berkshire n/a
Buckinghamshire n/a
Cambridgeshire 174
Cheshire n/a
Cleveland 28
Cornwall 164
Cumbria 3
Derbyshire 72
Devon 260
Dorset 97
Durham 13
East Sussex 176
Essex 182
Gloucestershire 33
Hampshire 157
Hereford and Worcester 84
Hertfordshire 77
Humberside n/a
Isle of Wight 60
Kent 61
Lancashire 280
Leicestershire 52
Lincolnshire 64
Norfolk 75
Northamptonshire 58
Northumberland n/a
North Yorkshire 94
Nottinghamshire 58
Oxfordshire 20
Shropshire 34
Somerset n/a
Staffordshire 57
Suffolk 42
Surrey 83
Warwickshire 62
West Sussex 95
Wiltshire 25
Isles of Scilly n/a

Administration Costs
Bolton 27
Bury 9
Manchester n/a
Oldham 21
Rochdale n/a
Salford n/a
Stockport 20
Tameside n/a
Trafford 39
Wigan 23
Knowsley n/a
Liverpool 31
St. Helens n/a
Sefton 79
Wirral 59
Barnsley 8
Doncaster 29
Rotherham n/a
Sheffield n/a
Gateshead 17
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 21
North Tyneside n/a
South Tyneside 14
Sunderland 9
Birmingham 78
Coventry 1
Dudley n/a
Sandwell 12
Solihull n/a
Walsall 27
Wolverhampton n/a
Bradford 62
Calderdale 20
Kirklees 16
Leeds n/a
Wakefield 21
City of London n/a
Camden 9
Greenwich n/a
Hackney n/a
Hammersmith and Fulham n/a
Islington 8
Kensington and Chelsea 20
Lambeth n/a
Lewisham 33
Southwark n/a
Tower Hamlets n/a
Wandsworth 8
Westminster n/a
Barking and Dagenham n/a
Barnet 48
Bexley 2
Brent 6
Bromley 40
Croydon 38
Ealing n/a
Enfield 38
Haringey n/a
Harrow n/a
Havering 20
Hillingdon 33
Hounslow n/a
Kingston-upon-Thames n/a
Merton 13
Newham n/a
Redbridge 15
Richmond-upon-Thames 9

Administration Costs
Sutton 21
Waltham Forest 17
n/a = not available.

Number of residential care homes registered with local authorities as at 31 March 1987 (provisional)
Registering local authority Homes for elderly and younger physically handicapped people Homes for other client groups Total homes
Cleveland 31 2 33
Cumbria 75 5 80
Durham 37 1 38
Northumberland 40 3 43
Gateshead 9 3 12
Newcastle upon Tyne 27 3 30
North Tyneside 37 9 46
South Tyneside 11 2 13
Sunderland 23 0 23
Humberside 166 21 187
North Yorkshire 234 30 264
Barnsley 11 1 12
Doncaster 22 1 23
Rotherham 6 7 13
Sheffield 22 9 31
Bradford 91 3 94
Calderdale 28 1 29
Kirklees 36 3 39
Leeds 55 9 64
Wakefield 21 7 28
Cheshire 76 13 89
Lancashire 483 26 509
Bolton 28 0 28
Bury 14 1 15
Manchester 56 8 64
Oldham 28 2 30
Rochdale 15 0 15
Salford 15 3 18
Stockport 42 1 43
Tameside 21 1 22
Trafford 48 8 56
Wigan 13 2 15
Knowsley 4 0 4
Liverpool 45 12 57
Sefton 133 9 142
St. Helens 6 0 6
Wirral 65 20 85
Hereford and Worcester 149 34 183
Shropshire 82 7 89
Staffordshire 118 5 123
Warwickshire 74 30 104
Birmingham 130 34 164
Coventry 49 15 64
Dudley 40 12 52
Sandwell 10 3 13
Solihull 11 5 16
Walsall 19 3 22
Wolverhampton 29 3 32
Derbyshire 130 5 135
Leicestershire 96 26 122
Lincolnshire 114 12 126
Northamptonshire 88 15 103
Nottinghamshire 89 61 150
Bedfordshire 54 7 61
Berkshire 90 23 113
Buckinghamshire 47 17 64
Cambridgeshire 63 11 74
Essex 228 24 252
Hertfordshire 96 6 102
Norfolk 184 56 240
Oxfordshire 36 5 41
Suffolk 103 19 122
Camden 11 3 14
Greenwich 4 2 6
Hackney 3 5 8

Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential homes are currently registered under the Residential Homes Act 1984 in each of the registering authorities.

Mr. Mellor

The latest available figures for the number of residential care homes registered with each local authority are given in the table.

Registering local authority Homes for elderly and younger physically handicapped people Homes for other client groups Total homes
Hammersmith 2 0 2
Islington 2 4 6
Kensington 10 8 18
Lambeth 18 11 29
Lewisham 19 3 22
Southwark 9 2 11
Tower Hamlets 3 1 4
Wandsworth 15 10 25
Westminster 2 9 11
Barking 2 0 2
Barnet 57 4 61
Bexley 5 0 5
Brent 13 3 16
Bromley 43 11 54
Croydon 60 10 70
Ealing 33 5 38
Enfield 31 5 36
Haringey 18 14 32
Harrow 30 2 32
Havering 18 1 19
Hillingdon 8 0 8
Hounslow 3 3 6
Kingston upon Thames 26 3 29
Merton 21 2 23
Newham 6 0 6
Redbridge 21 1 22
Richmond upon Thames 13 7 20
Sutton 25 1 26
Waltham Forest 16 2 18
Dorset 352 13 365
Hampshire 429 26 455
Isle of Wight 85 8 93
Kent 185 50 235
Surrey 180 25 205
East Sussex 378 44 422
West Sussex 320 32 352
Wiltshire 97 26 123
Avon 198 59 257
Cornwall 183 23 206
Devon 618 68 686
Gloucestershire 97 11 108
Somerset 96 9 105
England 7,968 1,190 9,158

Note: Figures include certain homes which are exempt from registration under Section 1(5)(i) of the Registered Homes Act, including homes managed by bodies incorporated by royal charter.

Mr. Grocott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that the level of inspection of residential homes provided by registering authorities under the provisions of the Residential Homes Act 1984 is sufficient.

Mr. Mellor

From 1 August 1988 the fees payable in respect of registration and inspection of residential care homes were substantially increased to enable local authorities to carry out their duties effectively. The minimum number of inspections was increased from one to two a year. In addition, the Department, in conjunction with the Welsh Office has commissioned training material for registration and inspection staff of authorities from the centre for environmental and social studies in aging at the polytechnic of north London. This material should be available later this year.

The Department's social services inspectorate has carried out a study of the implementation of the Registered Homes Act 1984 by local authorities. Its report "Certain Standards" was published last year. The Wagner report, "Residential Care: A Positive Choice" which was also published last year, contained recommendations on the regulation of these homes. Both reports are in the Library. We are giving careful consideration to the findings of these reports before deciding whether any change is desirable in the current arrangements.