Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con): I note what the hon. Gentleman says about funding. He briefly mentioned the issue of commissioners and quality, which is clearly as important as funding. Does he share my concern that the changing role of the Care Quality Commission, which will now monitor providers rather than commissioners, will mean that there is a gap and, therefore a risk that commissioners will not be held to account and provide good-quality care?
Alex Cunningham: Yes, I agree that there is a considerable risk. I should say that I have been much impressed by the role played by local authorities in health scrutiny. I hope that the Minister will answer the hon. Lady’s question directly later.
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Anne Marie Morris: The hon. Gentleman raises a question about care homes and fees. Does he agree that one way to solve the problem would be to introduce a standard contract? At the moment, there are great differences in provision; there is no consistency in standards, which means that one person’s care can be very different from another’s.
Alex Cunningham: During my time I have visited many care homes, and I have seen many variations in quality and standards. I have seen some places where elderly people were highly motivated and excitedly engaged in activities and others where people were sitting in seats glued to the television—at least, I think that they were glued to the television; they certainly seemed to be in another world. I agree with the hon. Lady that we need a solution of exactly the sort that she outlines.
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Anne Marie Morris: The hon. Lady has made some extraordinarily good points, and the Care Quality Commission certainly needs more help to do an effective job. Now that we have an outcome-based set of performance criteria, homes need to be given guidance on how to comply with them. In my meetings with the Care Quality Commission, it says that it no longer gives advice, which means that it is an uphill battle for any home to ensure that it provides the quality of care that is needed and that it complies with the new criteria.
Catherine McKinnell: I agree that the Care Quality Commission should take a proactive approach to improving the quality of care in our adult services.
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Anne Marie Morris: I thank the hon. Gentleman for being so generous in giving way. The statistics are interesting, but care homes in my constituency of Newton Abbot complain that more visits are being made. I spoke to the CQC just this week and it said it was making on-site visits to every home within its purview in the south-west. There might be a regional difference, but in the south-west, where there are a huge number of elderly people, the number of visits is going up, not down.
Mr Anderson: I thank the hon. Lady for that. More inspections are good: we want inspections that work; otherwise, we will get into the problems that my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) mentioned.