Regulation of Health and Social Care Professionals Consultation

continue to be subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office and continue to
present its reports and accounts to Parliament. 7
Provisional view
10.9 As a meta-regulator, the CHRE performs a valuable role in providing oversight of
the health care regulators. This role is particularly useful due to the large number
of regulators responsible for many different professions, as the experience of one
regulator may provide learning points for the other regulators. There may also be
added value because the CHRE is separate from the Government, since this may
provide it with a more authoritative position from which to challenge the
regulators, free from any direct political influence. We welcome views on how
effective the CHRE is performing the role of scrutinising and overseeing the work
of the regulators.
10.10 Our starting point is that the current role of the CHRE should be maintained as far
as possible (including the reforms introduced by the Health and Social Care Bill
2011). However, this starting point is subject to changes to the role of the CHRE
that may arise as a result of the provisional proposals we make in this
consultation paper. For example, in the future CHRE may become involved in
monitoring the partnership arrangements discussed in Part 12. Therefore, we
provisionally propose that whilst the current position of CHRE is maintained as far
as possible, aspects of CHRE’s legal framework may need to be altered as a
result of our provisional proposals for law reform.
Question 10-1: How effective is the CHRE in performing the role of
scrutinising and overseeing the work of the regulators?
Provisional Proposal 10-2: The current powers and roles of the CHRE
(including those introduced by the Health and Social Care Bill 2011) should be
maintained in as far as possible.
GOVERNANCE OF THE CHRE
10.11 The legislation provides that the Council of the CHRE has nine members who
consist of a chair appointed by the Privy Council, three non-executive members
from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland appointed by the devolved
administrations, three non-executive members appointed by the Secretary of
State and two executive members who are employees of the Council. 8 However,
in practice there are only eight members since one of the executive member
seats has never been filled.
10.12 The appointment and remuneration of members of the Council is currently the
responsibility of the Secretary of State. Regulations have been made which
determine the conditions of appointment and tenure of Council members, whilst
the Secretary of State determines their level of remuneration. 9 The Secretary of
State also has a role to play in payments and loans to the Council. The Council
7
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, Proposals for CHRE’s new roles and
responsibilities (2010).
8 NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002, sch 7, paras 4 and 11.
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