§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the total number, by region, of inspectors of residential and care homes; what is the minimum number of annual inspections of these; and what further measures will be taken to maintain standards of care in residential and care homes.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyInformation about the numbers of inspectors employed by local authorities is not held centrally. Authorities are required to inspect registered private and voluntary residential care homes at least twice a year.
The regulation of residential care, in which inspection plays a major part, safeguards the welfare of residents and helps uphold high standards. It is for this reason that over the last 12 months the Government have required local authorities to set up inspection units specifically to begin inspecting care homes in the public sector; have instituted arrangements allowing authorities to ask the police to check the antecedents of new proprietors and managers of homes; and, in regulations due to come into effect on 1 December, have introduced a requirement on applicants to provide details of criminal convictions, as well as to provide proof of identity on request.
We are also actively seeking to encourage improvements in the quality of life of residents in care homes. The social services inspectorate is publishing and promoting a series of documents on standards in homes with the generic title "Caring for Quality". Considerable progress has also been made in the caring in homes initiative, an action research programme which the Department is funding at a cost of some £2 million. The initiative is 481W working to promote good practice and enhancing residents' quality of life, drawing on recommendations made in the report "Residential Care: A Positive Choice". The final results will be made widely available next year. Copies of the existing publications are available in the Library.