The Housing Corporation could be solely responsible for validating and checking registered social landlords' support services in an extention of its current role under the new Supporting People funding regime.

The suggestion is made in the Supporting People consultation document on quality and monitoring published this week.

It details proposals for conducting ongoing quality and monitoring processes under the new single stream of funding for support costs due to start in April 2003. These include the corporation acting as an independent auditor of the quality of supported housing schemes provided by housing associations, which would further develop the checks it does under the Supported Housing Management Grant requirements.

It says: "There is an option for Housing Corporation inspectors to be accredited solely responsible for carrying out the validation checks of RSL's support services alongside their Best Value inspection work."

It suggests the corporation's Best Value regime should not extend to the support services because it would duplicate local authorities responsibilities for securing Best Value from the use of the Supporting People grant.

It adds: "If this option was pursued the corporation would need to extend the scope of these checks to incorporate particular standards set through local authority contractual requirements and to take account of the proposed common national standards framework."

The paper also suggests setting up a whole new body of independent auditors to conduct validation checks of support services provided by councils, private agencies and housing associations - which the corporation could also play a part in regarding the social housing sector.

It says: "It is proposed that validation checks should be externally commissioned from suitably competent individuals, or organisations, so they are completely independent of the local authority or provider. It is possible that a panel of accredited independent validators could be established."

Councils, the report suggests, in consultation with providers could take responsibility for commissioning validation checks undertaken on a service basis. It says: "The commissioning of validation checks by local authorities would ensure that the report produced be owned by the strategic body responsible for the programme."