Should the single inspectorate for housing be a hybrid of existing inspectorates or would it be better to start from scratch and create an entirely new body.
ew labour LIKES INSPECTORS. After Chris Woodhead became a crusading, standards-raising superhero for education during his spell at the helm of Ofsted, the government sent its hit squads into the health service, the residential care sector, and social services departments. And last month, the comprehensive spending review brought the latest innovation: a single super-watchdog for the local authority and social housing sectors.

The two existing housing inspectorates – the Housing Corporation, for registered social landlords, and the Audit Commission, for local authority housing – are both in the frame for the role of dominant partner in any forced marriage. Both claim to have the personnel, expertise and vision to take on the job.

But, appropriately enough for a New Labour idea, there is also a third way, which would see the creation of an entirely new body.

Opinion on the right course of action is split, predictably, along RSL/local government lines. For instance, the National Housing Federation fears that a single inspectorate run by the Audit Commission would yoke councils and housing associations too closely together. "The Audit Commission only inspects public sector bodies, and we need to stress the independence of our members," says NHF deputy chief executive James Tickell.

In general, the NHF has concerns that both sectors will be pitched into uncertainty, that questions of organisational politics could distract resources and attention away from raising standards, and that integrating the two existing regulatory regimes could increase the burden of regulation for all housing providers.

Meanwhile Paul Jenks, chair of the housing executive at the Local Government Association, insists the new inspectorate's staff should have a thorough grounding in the workings of local government. But this does not necessarily constitute a vote in favour of the Audit Commission, he says: "We're not daft enough to predict the death of one or the other, then find ourselves dealing with them the next day."

The sanctions available to the Audit Commission are more drastic than anything the Housing Corporation can come up with – as Hull council has learned

To give overall control to one of these bodies also raises the question of how the cards of power will be dealt. At the moment, the Housing Corporation has three functions: channelling government investment, regulating and inspecting housing associations and taking enforcement action on serious failings. The Audit Commission, on the other hand, has an inspection and regulatory role, but enforcement powers remain with deputy prime minister John Prescott. So far, there has been no talk of the new joint inspectorate taking on an enforcement role, but it is not out of the question. And although the social housing sector relies heavily on public funds through the Housing Corporation and housing benefit, there is a view in some quarters that it is subject to a lighter regulatory touch than local authorities. The sanctions available to the Audit Commission and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are more drastic than anything the Housing Corporation can come up with – as Hull council has learned.

So, what about the idea of an entirely new body? The advantage of this would be the opportunity to re-think the regulatory regime for all housing providers from first principles. But the disadvantage would be a delay in its inception, since a new legal entity would require parliamentary legislation.

Ben Denton, senior director at consultant ABROS, says: "It would be better if there was an independent body – the existing organisations have too many ties and too much baggage. If it's about more than a technical audit and a chance to improve standards for residents, we need specialists to evaluate the challenges."

In the government's eyes, the single inspector reflects the increasing convergence between council and housing association sectors. Currently, the split in ownership is around three million to 1.5 million in councils' favour. But the two sectors could soon achieve equal weighting, if government policy continues to pursue large-scale transfers and arm's-length management organisations.

Social Services Inspectorate - Department of Health

Once a low-key inspectorate for the 150 social services departments in England and Wales, the SSI has of late sought a higher profile. In May, this culminated in the publication of star ratings for social services departments. The top-rated departments will have more freedoms, such as the chance to spend their share of a £50m social services performance fund. Three- and two-star councils won’t have to give the DoH as much detail on how they plan to spend their grants. Directors of the 10 zero-star social services, on the other hand, have to draw up an action plan setting out how they will improve performance. Hit squads of private sector consultants will go into departments that show no signs of improvement – but they will not take over the management of poorly performing social services. In 2004, the functions of the SSI, the social care element of the National Care Standards Commission, and the SSI/Audit Commission Joint Review team are to be combined in a new inspectorate, the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Financial Services Association

The FSA became the single regulator for UK financial services last December. It is the finance industry’s internal police force, looking out for money laundering, insider dealing and financial crime. It also regulates all investment operations, from global fund managers and large UK stockbrokers through to high street independent financial advisers. It is the gatekeeper to the stock exchange and other financial markets, vetting firms or financial products seeking listings. It is responsible for maintaining the public records of building societies, credit unions and friendly societies, and regulates insurance companies and certain aspects of Lloyd’s insurance market. The other side of its brief is as a consumer’s champion. It can restore funds to consumers if they have been victims of mis-selling or unfair contracts, and is carrying out a pensions review into more than 1.6 million cases, which is expected to result in a £12bn compensation pay-out. It also tries to promote public understanding of the financial system.

National Care Standards Commission

Blink and you’ll miss this organisation, charged with inspecting and enforcing standards in residential and home care settings. It started in April but, with its demise in 2004 announced just a few months later, it doesn’t have much time to show its teeth, let alone sharpen them: under the 2004 shake-up in the health and social care regulation, the NCSC will merge with the Department of Health’s SSI (see box, left) to form the Commission for Social Care Inspection. Its remit covers residential care for children and older people, voluntary and local authority adoption and fostering, private and voluntary hospitals, nursing agencies, day centres and welfare in boarding schools. Sanctions at its disposal include fines of up to £5000, the withdrawal of a home’s licence and the exclusion of individuals from the residential care sector. The government has provided it with start-up funds only; in the longer term it is expected to recover the costs of inspection from care homes.

Commission for Health Improvement

The CHI, set up in April 2000, inspects NHS trusts in England and Wales and is technically independent of the Department of Health. It tries to avoid the “name and shame” approach used by Ofsted, and instead adopts a patient-centred approach which aims to set hospitals, ambulance services and GP practices on the road to continuous improvement. It seeks to iron out the “postcode lottery” that means standards of care for different conditions vary from region to region. Its remit includes clinical review visits on a continuous programme, selecting sites at random. It also undertakes thematic studies on topics such as cancer or heart disease. It investigates alleged failures at the request of either the health secretary or the public. However, it has no powers to take action at failing trusts – this function remains in ministerial hands. It also helps the sharing of best practice among trusts and publishes an annual “state of the NHS” report and NHS performance ratings. It had a budget of £12m in 2000/01.

Ofsted

These days, the 10-year-old Office for Standards in Education takes a softer line than in the days when Chris Woodhead was the scourge of the staffroom. Woodhead resigned in 2000 after six strife-filled years as chief executive, and the current incumbent is David Bell, former chief executive of Bedfordshire County Council. As well as inspecting the 24,000 state-funded primary and secondary schools in England, Ofsted’s remit covers sixth-form and further education colleges, the independent schools sector, early years and nursery schooling, local authority education departments and teacher training. The organisation employs 200 inspectors but also contracts inspection work to registered inspectors, independent consultancies and lay inspectors. Where a school is identified as having serious failings, the school improvement division steps in. It devises action plans, monitors improvements resulting from inspection and oversees links with governors and parents.

Source

Housing Today