§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the status of the letter dated 24 March sent by Tom Luce of her Department to inspection unit managers on the regulation of residential care and nursing homes.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make available the latest figures on the cost of registering and inspecting residential care and nursing homes for each local authority in England.
§ Mr. BowisThe information is not available in the detail requested. Local authorities have provided returns showing their gross costs of registering and inspecting residential care homes run by private or voluntary organisations under the Registered Homes Act 1984 in 1991–92—the latest year for which data are available. The data do not cover children's homes. Local authorities do not register or inspect nursing homes. Local authorities do not provide separate returns on the cost of inspecting local authority-run homes.
89W
Costs of registering and inspecting residential care homes run by private or voluntary organisations Costs in 1991–92 in £'000s Local authority Cost Avon 380 Bedfordshire 56 Berkshire 230 Buckinghamshire 132 Cambridgeshire 280 Cheshire 347 Cleveland 150 Cornwall 1— Cumbria 122 Derbyshire 144 Devon 743 Dorset 250 Durham 151 East Sussex 1— Essex 869 Gloucestershire 140 Hampshire 589 Hereford and Worcester 241 Hertfordshire 174 Humberside 227 Isle of Wight 210 Kent 533 Lancaster 725 Leicester 226 Lincolnshire 153 90W
Local authority Cost Norfolk 377 Northamptonshire 168 Northumberland 15 Doncaster 110 Rotherham 33 Sheffield 60 Gateshead 71 Newcastle 129 North Tyneside 76 South Tyneside 54 Sunderland 143 Birmingham 371 Coventry 135 Dudley 1— Sandwell 111 Solihull 1— Walsall 1— Wolverhampton 127 Bradford 187 Calderdale 42 Kirklees 89 Leeds 311 Wakefield 24 City of London 1— Camden 52 Greenwich 1— Hackney 142 Hammersmith and Fulham 20 Islington 45 Kensington and Chelsea 32 Lambeth 1— North Yorkshire 311 Nottinghamshire 1— Oxfordshire 159 Shropshire 161 Somerset 222 Staffordshire 177 Suffolk 203 Surrey 1— Warwickshire 1— West Sussex 323 Wiltshire 302 Isles of Scilly 1— Bolton 79 Bury 47 Manchester 166 Oldham 153 Rochdale 60 Salford 193 Stockport 97 Tameside 127 Trafford 1— Wigan 1— Knowsley 1— Liverpool 170 St. Helens 63 Sefton 1— Wirral 208 Barnsley 1— Lewisham 137 Southwark 93 Tower Hamlets 1— Wandsworth 35 Westminster 1— Barking and Dagenham 6 Barnet 85 Bexley 1— Brent 75 Bromley 59 Croydon 261 Ealing 103 Enfield 131 Haringey 144 Harrow 162 Havering 144 Hillingdon 5 Hounslow 90 Kingston-upon-Thames 71
Local authority Cost Merton 60 Newham 132 Redbridge 103 Richmond-upon-Thames 22 Sutton 23 Waltham Forest 70 1 No information provided.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the average cost of a tribunal under the Registered Homes Act 1984; and what is its average duration;
(2) what provision is made to compensate local authorities for the cost of tribunals under the Registered Homes Act 1984.
§ Mr. BowisThe average duration of Registered Homes tribunal cases in 1992 and 1993 was just over four days. Information which would show the average cost of such hearings is not available centrally. However costs to local authorities in relation to such appeals are included in the cost of their duties under the Registered Homes Act 1984 reported to the Department. The level of fees payable by home owners will therefore take into account the cost involved.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she has to modify the requirement for the inspection of residential care and nursing homes, except small homes, at least twice a year.
§ Mr. BowisWe have at present no specific proposals. We shall consult more widely if we decide to bring forward proposals to improve existing arrangements, while retaining safeguards for vulnerable residents.