Labour MP wants powers separated from upcoming care authority

A proposed authority that will be tasked with enforcing standards for care providers should not also be responsible for establishing those standards in the first place, Labour MP Franco Mercieca said.

“As it stands, the authority will also be the regulator, which is a contradiction,” he said during a debate on a Bill that will establish a Care Standards Authority. “One institution should set the standards, while another should regulate them.”

As proposed, the Care Standards Authority will be tasked with establishing and enforcing regulatory standards for social care. It will have the power to establish license criteria for care providers, which it will use to issue, refuse, suspend or revoke licenses.

It will also get to establish and enforce a set of minimum occupational standards for non-regulated social care workers, and establish and update register for social care workers. It will have the power to strike off names from the register in appropriate cases.

The authority will be composed of a five-person board, including a chairperson who will be appointed by the President in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister after he has consulted the Opposition leader. The remaining four members, who will be appointed by the social policy minister, will represent different social care disciplines.