Following the collapse of Southern Cross the Department of Health is making plans to put Monitor, the NHS economic regulator, in control of adult social care. Whilst bonds will required to protect against financial failure, councils could face public reprimand for paying below-cost rates to private operators so as to cross-subsidise in-house services.
With concerns mounting that the current regulator, the Care Quality Commission, is not able to interfere in finan- cial matters, Monitor was seen as a part of a new regulatory regime, with insurance bonds to ensure that care is not in- terrupted or diminished. Banks and insurers would get to rate each operator’s financial stability.
