§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 12 December 2002,Official Report, column 493W, on care home applications, what 849W the average length of time is for care home applications to be registered and processed by the National Care Standards Commission; and how many such applications there have been. [105892]
§ Jacqui SmithThe information requested is not currently available. Information is available, however, for all new registrations relating to care homes for which the National Care Standards Commission received an application after 1 April 2002. This amounts to 779 applications and the average time taken to process these applications is 114 days. Work continues to refine this information and I will write to the hon. Member with the specific information requested when it becomes available.