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The government may instruct the Commission for Social Care Inspection to carry out snap inspections of councils if providers complain about fees, potentially undermining its drive to cut regulation, writes Mithran Samuel.

Ladyman

Community Care minister Stephen Ladyman told care providers that CSCI should act on their complaints about low fees for care by inspecting how councils commission services.

He told today’s annual long-term care for older people conference: “If you say to CSCI we are being hammered on price the CSCI has the power to inspect the council.

“In my view they should immediately go and inspect the council’s commissioning processes and work out whether the council has a commissioning system that provides a fair rate for care.”

His comments call into question CSCI’s commitment to cut the burden of regulation on both councils and providers and make inspection proportionate to risk.

Despite a number of comments from providers about low fees, the conference heard fee inflation had increased significantly since 2000, doubling in the case of non-nursing care homes from 4% to 8% per year.

However, Laing & Buisson director William Laing, who presented the figures, suggested the trend was unlikely to continue.