NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES Citation, commencement and interpretation 1 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (Membership) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force on 8th January 2004. 2 In these Regulations— “ the Act ” means the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003; “the 2000 Act ” means the Care Standards Act 2000 ; “chairman” means, unless the context otherwise requires, the chairman of the CHAI ; “ FHSAA ” means the Family Health Service Appeal Authority constituted under section 49S of the 1977 Act ; “health care professional” means a person who is a member of a profession regulated by a body for the time being mentioned in section 25(3) of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 ; “the health service” shall be construed in accordance with section 128(1) of the 1977 Act; “health service body” means— an NHS body ; the Dental Practice Board constituted under section 37(1) of the 1977 Act ; the Public Health Laboratory Service Board ; a Health Board or Special Health Board constituted under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 , or the Scottish Dental Practice Board, the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service or an NHS trust constituted under, respectively, sections 4, 10 or 12A of that Act ; the Northern Ireland Central Services Agency for the Health and Social Services established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 ; a special health and social services agency established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 ; a Health and Social Services trust established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 ; “lay member” means a person who is not— a health care professional, or the holder of a paid appointment or office with an NHS body; “member”, unless the context otherwise requires, means a member of the CHAI, and in relation to the CHAI, “member” includes the chairman; “national NHS disqualification” means— a decision made by the FHSAA under section 49N of the 1977 Act ; a decision under provisions in force in Scotland or Northern Ireland corresponding to section 49 of the 1977 Act; or a decision by the NHS Tribunal which is treated as a national disqualification by the FHSAA by virtue of regulation 6(4)(b) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2001 or regulation 6(4)(b) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2002 ; “the NHS Tribunal” means the Tribunal constituted under section 46 of the 1977 Act for England and Wales; “primary care list” means— a list of persons performing primary medical or dental services under section 28X of the 1977 Act ; a list of persons undertaking to provide general medical services, general dental services, general ophthalmic services or, as the case may be, pharmaceutical services prepared pursuant to regulations made under sections 29, 36, 39, 42 or 43 of the 1977 Act ; a list of persons approved for the purposes of assisting in the provision of any services mentioned in paragraph (b) prepared pursuant to regulations made under section 43D of the 1977 Act ; a services list referred to in section 8ZA of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997 ; or a list corresponding to a services list prepared by virtue of regulations made under section 41 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 . 3 Except in regulation 4(1)(a) and (f), in relation to a member appointed under paragraph 3(1)(b) of Schedule 6 to the Act, any reference in these Regulations to the Secretary of State is to be construed as a reference to the Assembly . Number of members 2 In addition to the chairman, the CHAI shall have fourteen other members, and the chairman and the majority of the other members shall be lay members. Tenure of office of members 3 1 Subject to regulation 7, the term of office of a member shall be such period, not exceeding five years, as specified by the Secretary of State to the relevant Special Health Authority before the appointment is made. 2 Subject to regulation 4, a member shall be eligible for re-appointment on termination of his office. Disqualification for appointment or from holding office 4 1 Subject to regulation 5, a person is disqualified for appointment or from holding office as a member if— a he is included in any list maintained by the Secretary of State under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 (list of persons considered unsuitable to work with children) or section 81 of the 2000 Act (list of persons considered unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults) ; b he has within the previous 5 years been convicted— i of an offence under the 2000 Act or regulations made under it, or ii in the British Islands of any other offence, or convicted elsewhere of such an offence which, if committed in any part of the British Islands would constitute a criminal offence in that part, and in either case has had passed on him a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine, and which has not been quashed on appeal; c he has— i been adjudged bankrupt or had a sequestration of his estate awarded, or ii made a composition or arrangement with, or granted a trust deed for, his creditors; d he is subject to a disqualification order under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 , under Part 2 of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 or to an order made under section 429(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (failure to pay under a county court administration order); e he has been removed— i from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by an order made by the Charity Commissioners or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which he was responsible or to which he was privy, or which he by his conduct contributed to or facilitated, or ii under section 7 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 (powers of Court of Session to deal with management of charities) from being concerned in the management or control of any body; f he has been removed from office as a member of the Audit Commission by the Secretary of State under sub-paragraph (c) or (d) of paragraph 4(4) of Schedule 1 to the Audit Commission Act 1998 ; g he has been dismissed (without being re-instated) by reason of misconduct from any paid employment where that dismissal has not been the subject of a finding of unfair dismissal by a tribunal or court; h his tenure of office as the chairman or as a member or director of an NHS body has been terminated on the grounds that it was not in the interests of the health service that he should continue to hold office in the body; i he is a person whose tenure of office as the chairman or as a member or director of a health service body has been terminated on the grounds that— i it was not in the interests of, or conducive to, the good management of the body in question that he should continue to hold office, ii he failed, without reasonable cause, to attend any meeting of that body for a period of three months or more, or iii he failed to declare a pecuniary interest, or withdraw from consideration of any matter in which he had a pecuniary interest; j he— i is the subject of a national NHS disqualification, ii has been refused nomination or approval to fill a vacancy for a medical practitioner pursuant to regulations made under section 29B(2A) of the 1977 Act and has not subsequently been approved or included in such a list , iii has been removed from, or refused admission to, a primary care list on grounds corresponding to the conditions referred to in section 49F(2), (3) or (4) of that Act (efficiency cases, fraud cases and unsuitability cases) and has not subsequently been included in such a list, iv is contingently removed from a primary care list under— aa section 49G of the 1977 Act , or bb regulations made under section 28X or 43D of the 1977 Act, v is suspended from a primary care list under— aa section 49I of the 1977 Act or is treated as so suspended by virtue of regulation 6(2) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2001 or regulation 6(2) of the Abolition of the National Health Service Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2002, or bb regulations made under section 28X or 43D of the 1977 Act, and in this sub-paragraph any reference to a provision in the 1977 Act includes a reference to the provision corresponding to that provision in Scotland and Northern Ireland; k he is a person whose registration as a provider or manager of an establishment or agency under Part 2 of the 2000 Act has been cancelled by the registration authority under section 14 of that Act( ) except where— i that decision has been subject to a direction by the Tribunal given under section 21 of the 2000 Act that it shall not have effect, or ii the cancellation was only by reason of an application for cancellation having been made by him pursuant to section 15(1)(b) of the 2000 Act; or l he is an employee of the CHAI. 2 For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), the date of conviction shall be deemed to be the date on which the ordinary period allowed for making an appeal or application with respect to the conviction expires or, if such an appeal or application is made, the date on which the appeal or application is finally disposed of or abandoned or fails by reason of its not being prosecuted. 3 For the purposes of paragraph (1)(g), a person shall not be treated as having been in paid employment by reason only of his having been— a the chairman or a member or director of a health service body, or b a member of the Audit Commission. Cessation of disqualification 5 1 Where a person is disqualified under regulation 4(1)(c)(i) by reason of having been adjudged bankrupt or having had a sequestration of his estate awarded— a if the bankruptcy is annulled on the ground that he ought not to have been adjudged bankrupt or on the ground that his debts have been paid in full, the disqualification shall cease on the date of annulment; b if he is discharged, the disqualification shall cease on the date of his discharge. 2 Where a person is disqualified under regulation 4(1)(c)(ii) by reason of his having made a composition or arrangement with, or having granted a trust deed for, his creditors— a if he pays his debts in full, the disqualification shall cease on the date on which such payment is completed; and b in any other case, disqualification shall cease on the expiry of a period of five years beginning with the date on which the terms of the deed of composition or arrangement or, as the case may be, the terms of the trust deed are fulfilled. 3 Subject to paragraph (6), where a person is disqualified under regulation 4(1)(e) or (f) he may, after the expiry of two years beginning with the date on which he was removed from office or from being concerned in the management or control of any body, as the case may be, apply in writing to the Secretary of State to remove the disqualification, and the Secretary of State may direct that the disqualification shall cease for the purposes of his appointment to the CHAI. 4 Subject to paragraph (6), where a person is disqualified under regulation 4(1)(g) he may, after the expiry of two years beginning with the date on which he was dismissed, apply in writing to the Secretary of State to remove the disqualification, and the Secretary of State may direct that the disqualification shall cease. 5 Subject to paragraph (6), where a person is disqualified under regulation 4(1)(h) or (i), the disqualification shall cease on the expiry of a period of two years beginning with the date of the termination of his tenure of office or such longer period as the person or body may specify when terminating his period of office, but the Secretary of State may, on application being made to him by the disqualified person, reduce the period of disqualification for the purposes of his appointment to the CHAI. 6 Where the Secretary of State refuses an application to remove or to reduce the period of a disqualification, no further application may be made to him by that person until the expiry of a period of two years beginning with the date of the refusal and this paragraph shall apply to any subsequent application. Suspension of members 6 1 Paragraphs (2) to (4) apply where it appears to the Secretary of State in relation to a member that one of the conditions in paragraph 3(6) of Schedule 6 to the Act is or may be satisfied. 2 Where this paragraph applies, the Secretary of State may suspend the member from office by giving him notice in writing to that effect. 3 Such notice shall give the reason for, and the period of, the suspension and the date that it is to begin. 4 Where this paragraph applies, the Secretary of State may— a before the period referred to in the notice has expired, extend, or further extend, the suspension for a further specified period, or b if it has expired, impose a further suspension for a specified period, by giving the member notice in writing to that effect. 5 Where a member is suspended under this regulation, he may apply in writing to the Secretary of State to remove the suspension or to reduce its period, and the Secretary of State may so direct that the suspension shall cease or the period of it be reduced. 6 A member shall cease to perform his functions as a member for the period of the suspension but the period of his term of office shall not be affected by the suspension. 7 Where the Secretary of State removes a suspension before the end of the period specified by him in a notice given under paragraph (2), or reduces its period, he shall notify the member in writing to that effect. Termination of tenure of office 7 1 A member may resign his office at any time during his term of office by giving notice in writing to the Secretary of State. 2 Where during his term of office a member other than the chairman is appointed to be the chairman, his tenure of office as such a member shall terminate when his appointment as chairman takes effect. 3 If the Secretary of State is satisfied that one of the conditions specified in paragraph 3(6) of Schedule 6 to the Act is satisfied in relation to a member, he may remove the member from office by giving him notice in writing to that effect, and the notice shall state the reason for his removal, and that the member’s tenure of office shall cease forthwith. Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health Warner Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health 15th December 2003