Budget 2005

The 2005 budget outlined the government's plans for the regulation and inspection of public services. The government intended to refocus inspection on what was relevant to the public, rationalise and simplify the complex patterns of regulation, and reduce the amount of inspection activity and budget.

The budget report suggested that the Secretary of State for Health had agreed in principle to merge the functions of the Commission for Social Care Inspection with the Healthcare Commission by 2008. This was intended to reflect the increasing integration of health and social care functions.

It was suggested that, over time, having fewer inspectorates would lead to:

• better coordination and reduced duplication
• better and wider identification and the promulgation of best practice, including taking a risk-based, proportionate approach 
• a much greater ability to track the experience of users across service and institutional boundaries, and to comment on these pathways
• the ability to reprioritise work within larger bodies to focus on emerging concerns.