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Services by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care. Proposals for Maximum Fees to be set by Scottish Ministers for 2005-06: Consultation Paper

Dear Colleague

SCOTTISH COMMISSION FOR THE REGULATION OF CARE: PROPOSALS FOR MAXIMUM FEES

2. I invite you to comment on the enclosed consultation paper which sets out Scottish Ministers' proposals for maximum fees to be applied to care providers by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission) from 1 April 2005. Closing date for comments is 9 February 2004.
4. The Care Commission, set up by the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act), has been regulating care services since 1 April 2002. The Act requires Scottish Ministers to consult publicly before setting maximum fees which the Care Commission may charge for the following activities:

• applications for initial registration or for cancellation of registration;
• annual continuation of registration;
• applications for variation or removal of a condition of registration;
• issue of a new certificate of registration.

4. The attached consultation paper explains the background, including the policy intention that the Care Commission will be entirely financed through fees charged by 2006/07. Appendix B of the paper sets out the maximum fees which Scottish Ministers propose to prescribe for all the services which the Care Commission will be regulating from 1 April 2005. In line with policy, fees for school care accommodation services new to regulation from 1 April 2005 have been set at full cost recovery. In the interests of equity and fairness, fees for those school care accommodation services which were previously regulated have also been uprated to full cost from April 2005. For other services currently regulated by the Care Commission, but where fees are not at levels reflecting the full cost of regulatory activity, fees have been uprated by similar amounts to the increases in the current year. The level of increase varies from service to service reflecting where the 2003-04 fees were in relation to the cost of regulation. This was intimated in the consultation paper issued on 15 December last year. Fees are likely to rise by approximately the same levels again in the following year. The only exceptions to this policy are the fees for daycare of children and for childminding which Scottish Ministers have decided should continue to be subsidised. Fees for these services have been uprated by 10% in line with the original policy.
6. Responses should be made in writing. So that we can comply with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 which comes into effect on 1 January 2005, please complete the respondee information form attached at Appendix D. It is important that you provide all of the respondent information requested in that Annex when replying. This will ensure that your response is handled in accordance with your wishes.

Your comments should emailed to standardsandsponsorship@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or sent to:
Jane Martin
Care Standards and Sponsorship Branch
Scottish Executive Health Department
2E(S) St Andrew's House
Regent Road
EDINBURGH EH1 3BA

Yours sincerely

Linda Gregson

MRS LINDA GREGSON
Care Standards and Sponsorship Branch

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