RNID head goes to Audit Commission

The former chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf
People has been appointed chairperson of the Audit
Commission.

James Strachan told Community Care he would like to see
the Audit Commission retain the skills of the joint review team and
contribute to the inspections by the incoming Commission for Social
Care Inspection after the joint review programme ends next
year.

He said that although the Audit Commission would no longer be as
directly involved in social services inspection, it would “continue
to play a valuable role in community well-being through our work in
criminal justice, social housing and community regeneration”.

Strachan said the comprehensive performance assessment, due to
report for the first time next month, was designed to make the
system of audit and inspection simpler for councils.

But he added that he had a “certain amount of sympathy” with local
councils that felt they were overburdened by inspection. He said
there was “a degree to which we have lost sight of what the
performance indicator actually represents in terms of being a
driver for improvement”.