News that the launch of the government's new care watchdog has been postponed has been welcomed by members of the advisory group charged with setting it up.

The General Social Care Council was originally due to commence in April 2001, but earlier this week health minister John Hutton put back the start date until October 2001.

Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, the chair of the advisory group overseeing the creation of the council, is understood to have written to Hutton requesting an extension to the deadline.

The announcement comes just a fortnight after Iain Gray, the Scottish junior minister for community care, revealed that the launch of the Scottish equivalent of the council was being put back six months.

Advisory group members have welcomed the postponement, arguing that the original timescale for its implementation was "impossibly short".

One member, who asked not to be named, said: "There's nothing sinister about it. The council will still be going ahead as planned. It's simply that things are taking much longer than anticipated, like finding buildings and so on. To be honest the original timescale was quite ridiculous anyway, so it hasn't come as much of a surprise."

Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers and a member of the Scottish advisory group, said the postponement was necessary.

He said: "It's an acknowledgement that this is a complex process and we should try and get it right."