Inspection reforms may be delayed

A social work leader has called on the government to revisit plans to create a new health and social care inspectorate, after it emerged they are likely to be delayed by a year.

British Association of Social Workers chair Ray Jones made the call after sources claimed plans to merge the adults’ function of the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection would be dropped from next week’s Queen’s Speech.

The merger, which was announced in the 2005 budget, was meant to take place in 2008 but is now not expected before 2009. The delay is believed to be as a result of problems with other parts of the health legislation that the inspection plans were to be included in.

Jones said the government should reconsider scrapping CSCI, whose children’s functions will be hived off to Ofsted next year, saying this would show “that it values social care strongly enough”.