§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
Three new regulatory bodies, which will operate at arm's length from the department, come into being on 1 April: the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI), the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), and the Office of the Independent Regulator (OIR). The inception of these new bodies will change the department's role in the provision and inspection of healthcare and social services. The effects that this will have on accountability arrangements are set out below.
The role of the OIR is to authorise, monitor and regulate National Health Service foundation trusts (NHSFTs). The independent regulator is directly accountable to Parliament, and the department will not be able to comment on the details of the OIR's day-to-day management. For any questions that might arise in this area, we would provide information on the independent regulator's behalf, but not directly.
NHSFTs are themselves independent of the department, and are directly accountable to their local populations and to Parliament. Because of this independent status, and NHSFTs' separate and local route of accountability, we will no longer be in a 59WS position to comment on, or provide information about, the detail of operational management within such trusts. Any such questions will be referred to the relevant NHSFT chairman.
Notwithstanding these changes, matters of national policy (including the statutory framework for the NHS, and its resources, standards and targets) will of course remain the responsibility of the department. We will therefore continue to respond directly on these issues. We will also continue to respond directly on the services commissioned by the NHS locally, as these remain the responsibility of primary care trusts.
As with the OIR, CHAI and CSCI are independent of the department. We will therefore provide information to Members on behalf of these bodies about their activities, but not directly. One area of their operations warrants particular notice. The department has traditionally responded directly to parliamentary business on the performance star ratings system. From 1 April, it will be CHAI's and CSCI's responsibility to devise the form of performance ratings, and their criteria and methodology. The department will approve the criteria devised.