HC Deb 04 March 2004 vol 418 cc1133-4W
Sandra Gidley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the costs of the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection in its first five years of operation. [154467]

Mr. Hutton

A preliminary estimate of the cost of the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection's (CHAI) operation for its first year of operation was £60 million. No estimates have been made for subsequent years.

CHAI, as an independent body, will refine the estimates of its costs for its first three years. These will be contained in its first corporate plan, a copy of which will be placed in the Library when it is published.