Discussion paper to Disability Working Group, Satellite Group 2
ENGAGEMENT WITH AUDIT AND INSPECTION BODIES
This paper discusses ways in which the Satellite Group 2 might engage with audit and inspection bodies in the context of the duty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. Annex A provides background information on the role of the main audit and inspection bodies.
1. Introduction
Agencies that audit or inspect public authorities are themselves bound by the new duty to promote disability equality in all aspects of their work. As the DDA 2005 gives public authorities a statutory duty to promote disability equality, these agencies will need to ensure that how well the authority meets the disability equality duty becomes part of the inspection/audit process. They will thus need to ensure that disability equality is built into their inspection regimes. In particular, they will need to outline the action they intend to take to:
- review inspection and auditing methods to ensure that they have due regard to the duty and identify whether bodies are effectively complying with the duty
- advise public bodies on developing effective Disability Equality Schemes and monitoring arrangements
- identify and disseminate best practice in respect of the duty to promote equality; and
- improve research surveys and data collection in order to provide useful data for public bodies to consider when analysing their performance of the duty.
The main audit and inspection bodies include:
- Audit Scotland
- The Accounts Commission for Scotland
- The Care Commission
- The Scottish Social Services Council
- NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
- The Inspectorates (HMIE, HMIC, HMFSI, HMCIP)
Further information about the functions of these bodies is contained at Annex A.
2. Engagement between the Disability Working Group and Audit and Inspection Bodies
Satellite Group 2 considers these organisations as key to delivering the public sector duty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. It now needs to consider how it wishes to engage with them. It may be worth considering the purpose of that engagement - what exactly the Group wants to see as an outcome - before then considering the best methods for engagement in order to achieve the desired outcome.
Purpose and Outcome
The Group may wish to identify the key outcomes they would like to see from their engagement with audit and inspection bodies. These could include:
- Raising the profile of the issue
- Seeking assurance that the audit and inspection bodies are alive to the issue and taking action
- Influencing how audit and inspection bodies respond to the duty
- Developing a sustained dialogue with audit and inspection bodies
Methods of engagement
How the group engages with audit and inspection bodies will be determined by what the group wishes to achieve.
If the main thrust is to raise the issue and ensure that bodies are taking the new duty seriously then an event or seminar with the bodies might be appropriate.
Alternatively, if a sustained period of engagement is the desired outcome then perhaps a series of meetings might be helpful. These could focus on different aspects of the duty, or on different functions of the audit and inspection bodies.
It should also be remembered that the audit and inspection bodies are not all the same. Some, such as Audit Scotland, will have a much wider, and arguably more important, remit than others. Some of the inspectorates in particular will have a very narrow remit.
3. The way forward
Satellite Group 2 needs to consider and agree the primary reason for its engagement with audit and inspectorate bodies and then develop an approach which will hopefully lead to the desired outcome.
The Equality Unit, as secretariat, will take forward the Group's proposals. This may mean arranging a seminar or fixing up a range of meetings.
The Satellite Group will need to consider whether it wishes to press ahead with this work now or wait until later in the process. It may also wish to consider whether it wishes to refer its approach back to the Core Group for agreement.
Equality Unit
June 2005
Annex A
1. Audit Scotland
( www.audit-scotland.gov.uk )
Audit Scotland helps the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission to make sure organisations that spend public money in Scotland use it properly, efficiently and effectively. They do this by carrying out audits - that is, detailed and systematic investigations - of various aspects of how public bodies work.
These audits check whether public bodies:
- manage their finances to the highest standards
- achieve the best possible value for public money.
Three principles guide the work:
- Auditors are independent of the organisations they audit
- They report in public
- They look at more than financial statements: they can also carry out checks to make sure organisations:
- operate within the regulations that govern their work
- deliver value for money
- act honestly, with propriety and integrity
- carry out their duties to the highest standards.
Auditors report the detailed findings of audits directly to the bodies they audit.
Audit Scotland produces reports showing how different sectors perform during each financial year for example:
- health service bodies
- further education colleges
- councils
They also produce reports that look at particular issues - either in an individual organisation or across a sector. Examples include:
- how councils manage early retirements
- levels of cleanliness in hospitals
- how the Individual Learning Account (ILA) scheme was administered
- the system for dealing with young offenders
- the management of hospital waiting lists
They have begun a rolling programme of audits of Best Value - something that councils are now legally obliged to pursue. The first reports from these audits was published in 2004.
They audit more than 200 bodies, including:
- 19 Scottish Executive departments and agencies
- 52 NHS boards and trusts
- 32 councils
- 35 police, fire and other boards
- 42 further education colleges
- 23 non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs)
- Scottish Water.
2. Accounts Commission for Scotland
(
www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/accounts)
The Accounts Commission:
- was set up in 1975
- is independent of local councils and of government
- can make recommendations and reports to Scottish Ministers
Audit Scotland helps the Accounts Commission by investigating, on its behalf, various aspects of how public bodies work.
The Accounts Commission's role is to:
- examine how Scotland's 32 councils and 34 joint boards manage their finances
- help these bodies manage their resources efficiently and effectively
- promote Best Value
- publish information every year about how they perform
The Accounts Commission has powers to:
- report and make recommendations to the organisations it scrutinises
- hold hearings
- report and make recommendations to Scottish Executive Ministers
The Commission also has powers to take action against councillors and council officials if their negligence or misconduct:
- leads to money being lost or
- breaks the law.
3. Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care
(
www.carecommission.com)
The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) was established in April 2002 as the new, independent regulator set up under the
Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 to regulate care services in Scotland.
What they do -
- on an annual basis they regulate over 13,000 care services used by almost 230,000 people
- they have 500 staff - 350 involved in inspection activity, with the remainder providing administration and technical support
- by April 2006, Scottish Ministers require the Commission to be self-funding from the fees charged for regulation
4. Scottish Social Services Council
(
www.sssc.uk.com)
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) was established in October 2001 by the
Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. Its main purpose is to regulate the social service workforce and their education and training.
Objectives:
- to protect those who use services
- to raise standards of practice
- to strengthen and support the professionalism of the workforce.
Responsibilities:
In order to deliver its overall aims and objectives of protecting service users and their carers, the SSSC has responsibility for five key areas:
- to establish registers of key groups of social services staff
- to publish codes of practice for social service workers and employers
- to regulate the training and education of the workforce
- to promote education and training
- to undertake the functions of the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for social care : Skills for Care and Development.
5. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
(
www.nhshealthquality.org)
(NHS QIS) was established as a Special Health Board by the Scottish Executive in 2003, in order to act as the lead organisation in improving the quality of healthcare delivered by NHSScotland. They work to achieve these goals through an analysis of scientific evidence, by listening to the needs and preferences of patients and carers, as well as the experiences of healthcare professionals.
The role of NHS QIS is to:
- Provide clear advice and guidance to NHSScotland on effective clinical practice, in order that changes can be made to the benefit of patients. Our advice and guidance is based on a thorough review of the evidence available.
- Set clinical and non-clinical standards of care to help improve performance and set targets for continuous service improvement. Such standards show the public the level of care they can expect.
- Review and monitor the performance of NHSScotland to determine how well NHS services are performing against the targets that we have set. Instances of serious service failure within NHSScotland will also be investigated by NHS QIS and recommendations made to prevent their reoccurrence.
- Support and encourage NHSScotland staff in improving services through running development programmes, publishing best practice statements and organising conferences and events that will aid the sharing of best practice.
- Promote patient safety by learning from past experiences and putting arrangements in place that will ensure that patients are safe at all times.
- NHS QIS is also an umbrella for several other organisations that work to improve the quality of healthcare in Scotland.
6. Her Majesty's Inspectorates
Education
Constabularies
Fire Services
Prisons
HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Ministers under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998. As an agency, it operates independently and impartially whilst remaining directly accountable to Ministers for the standards of its work. This status guarantees the independence of inspection, review and reporting within the overall context of the Minister's strategic objectives for the Scottish education system.
The core business of HMIE is inspection and review. Successive Ministers have emphasised this distinctive contribution to improving the quality of education and raising attainment.
HMIE strategic priorities
· Strategic Priority 1
Undertake a planned programme of independent evaluations, investigations into key aspects of education and publication of subsequent reports.
· Strategic Priority 2
Manage and develop the collation and analysis of evidence from evaluations and the productive relationships with key stakeholders to enable HMIE to be well informed and to identify and to promote best practice.
· Strategic Priority 3
Ensure the timeous provision of high quality, independent professional advice to the Scottish Ministers and others.
· Strategic Priority 4
Develop and maintain high quality services in all aspects of HMIE's activities making efficient and effective use of resources.
· Strategic Priority 5
Ensure systematic quality assurance and continuous improvement within HMIE.
HM Inspectorate of Constabularies (HMIC) is independent of Police Forces, Police Authorities and the Scottish Executive, and exists to monitor and improve the police service in Scotland.
The main responsibilities of HMIC are to:
- inspect Police Forces and Common Police Services;
- carry out 'thematic' inspections;
- examine how forces deal with complaints against
the police; - provide advice to Scottish Ministers.
In fact, HMIC can enquire into any matter concerning the operation of a Police Force. The main aims are to improve the quality and standard of the service provided by the police, and to ensure that the public get the best value possible.
HM Fire Services Inspectorate (HMFSI) is independent of fire brigades, fire authorities and the Scottish Executive, and exists to inspect all fire brigades in Scotland to ascertain how they are discharging their functions under the Fire Services Act 1947 and the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and meeting their responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act, Equal Opportunities Act and other relevant legislation.
The Inspectorate's main responsibilities include;
- Obtaining information on the part of the Scottish Ministers about the manner in that fire authorities are performing their functions;
- Advising Ministers, the Fire and Emergency Planning Department, fire authorities and fire brigades of professional and technical matters generally;
- Providing advice to other government departments, professional associations the Scottish Fire Service Training School, Audit Scotland and the Health and Safety Executive;
- Inspection of fire brigades and public reporting thereon;
- Annually reporting upon the fire service in Scotland;
- Attendance at public inquiries;
- Assessment of fire safety activities including encouragement of contributions to community fire safety;
- Developing of guidance and good practice for operational planning and training procedures;
- Helping to develop Performance Indicators for the fire service;
- Fire precautions enforcement in Crown premises; and
- Management of internal Inspectorate resources.
In fact, HMFSI can enquire into any matter concerning the operation of a fire brigade. The main aims are to improve the quality and standard of the service provided by the fire service, and to ensure that the public gets the best value possible
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) for Scotland was established in its present form, following publication in 1979 of the Report by the Committee of Inquiry into the United Kingdom Prison system. HMCIP's main statutory responsibility is the regular inspection of individual establishments. In carrying out this function, matters that are inspected and reported on include physical conditions, quality of prisoner regimes, morale of staff and prisoners, facilities and amenities available to staff and prisoners, questions of safety and decency, and the establishment's contribution to preventing re-offending.
In addition to the 'core' Inspectorate team, HMCIP also works with other Inspectorates who provide advice on matters such as health care, education and addictions.