Written question asked by Joan Walley (Labour) on Monday, 2 March 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 March 1998. It was answered by Lord Boateng (Labour) on Monday, 9 March 1998 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the financial burden on local authorities of carrying out the registration and inspection of residential care and nursing homes. - Inc figures and ref to Consultation Document on Increasing Regulatory Fees for Residential Care Homes and Nursing Homes, in Library.

Answer: Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the financial burden on local authorities of carrying out the registration and inspection of residential care and nursing homes; and if he will make a statement. [32861] Mr. Boateng: Latest available information returned to the Department from local and health authority returns for 1995-96, indicate that the costs of local authority regulation functions were £28.6 million, and those for health authorities £9.2 million. In both cases, income from residential care and nursing home fees has fallen significantly short of the costs incurred by authorities. Regulatory fees have not been increased for several years and in January this year we published our proposals for raising fees in the "Consultation Document on Increasing Regulatory Fees for Residential Care Homes and Nursing Homes", copies of which are available in the Library.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 32861; 308 c61W;308 c60-1W
Session: 1997-98
Subjects: Care homes Costs Fees and charges Inspections Expenditure Functions Local government
Contains statistics: Yes