Our plan for inspection

They were published in an atmosphere of increasing scrutiny for the government, councils, police, health service and housing sector, as citizens, consumers and taxpayers all expect and demand better public services. But the regulatory machinery that oversees these services is also under continuous review, to ensure that regulation adds value.

So, why is the commission's new strategic plan different from the other contributions the commission regularly makes to the public service debate?

One housing association chief executive put it this way: "This is about you and the future, and not about us and the past." Those aren't quite the words we would have chosen, but they are straight to the point – which is our preferred style.

The plan sets out, in context, our proposed activities in local government, health, the criminal justice system, fire and rescue services and what we call "housing, communities and the environment". We want to add value in each of these sectors. Just as importantly, we want to look across the sectors as well.

Asking the right questions
As the plan acknowledges, assuring the public that taxpayers' money is being spent effectively is one of the commission's vital and enduring roles. However, this is not enough. Improvement must be at the heart of all that we do: by helping to improve public services we can boost the quality of people's lives.

We call this approach "strategic regulation", and it is at the core of our plan. Strategic regulation is about focusing on the most important questions and coming up with answers that maximise best impact on service users.

We believe everyone should have access to high-quality, cost-effective public services and, wherever possible, the opportunity to exercise some choice on the services they receive and how they are delivered.

The plan is designed to be:

• a force for continuous improvement
  
• focused on outcomes for service users
  
• proportionate to performance and risk
  
• delivered in partnership.

Those that can influence change – service users, the government, leaders, staff and their managers – must share a common purpose to make the plan a reality.

Regulators can play a vital role in bringing these forces together. We see a manifold role for the commission (see "The drive for continuous improvement", below).

How will this play out across the sector? As we say in the plan, it's about the context.

In the South-east, this means the shortage of housing supply, a lack of affordable housing and homelessness. In other parts of the country, the problem is one of excess supply leading to dereliction and decay.

Service quality issues, the need to bring all houses up to the decent homes standard and the importance of environmental sustainability, globally and locally, affect all sectors and in all regions.

Taken together with other local priorities, getting these right in order to create and maintain sustainable communities will be our focus.

Time management
In order to be specific, and to increase our accountability, we have proposed a number of time-bound objectives, all aimed at improving services.

These range from promoting value for money within the Supporting People care services funding programme, to working with the Commission for Racial Equality on the preparation of an updated code of practice for managing rented housing.

We will use our research and analytical skills to identify new ways of delivering affordable housing to those that need it. Promoting what works both across and within sectors will also feature in our work over the next three years.

Underpinning all this is the review of the commission's approach to inspection, which will be opened to consultation shortly. This review seeks to bring together the best elements of the local authority and housing association inspection regimes, and will introduce common scoring and reporting systems.

By adopting a common standard, we will begin to make real comparisons between housing providers' performances and services. We believe that if we can inform consumers in this way, even if they cannot easily exercise choice, they may be able to influence change.

We also plan to work with other bodies to review data collection, verification and analysis procedures, in order to promote the smarter use of knowledge and information while reducing the regulatory burden.

Overall, the plan represents the commission's ambitious agenda. To make its features a reality, we will need to work in partnership with government, the Housing Corporation and other national bodies such as English Partnerships and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, as well as the Local Government Association and the National Housing Federation.

But the need to work with others isn't only a priority at the national level. We must work with local authorities, housing associations and their respective partners. We all have a part to play in improving services.