Courts Act 2003

Valid from 01/04/2007

[F1Inspection programmes and inspection frameworks]E+W

Textual Amendments

2(1)The Chief Inspector shall from time to time, or at such times as the Lord Chancellor may specify by order, prepare—

(a)a document setting out what inspections he proposes to carry out (an “inspection programme”);

(b)a document setting out the manner in which he proposes to carry out his functions of inspecting and reporting (an “inspection framework”).

(2)Before preparing an inspection programme or an inspection framework the Chief Inspector shall consult the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and (subject to sub-paragraph (3))—

(a)Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons,

(b)Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary,

(c)Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service,

(d)Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of the National Probation Service for England and Wales,

(e)Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills,

(f)the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection,

(g)the Commission for Social Care Inspection,

(h)the Audit Commission for Local Government and the National Health Service in England and Wales,

(i)the Auditor General for Wales, and

(j)any other person or body specified by an order made by the Lord Chancellor,

and he shall send to each of those persons or bodies a copy of each programme or framework once it is prepared.

(3)The requirement in sub-paragraph (2) to consult, and to send copies to, a person or body listed in paragraphs (a) to (j) of that sub-paragraph is subject to any agreement made between the Chief Inspector and that person or body to waive the requirement in such cases or circumstances as may be specified in the agreement.

(4)The Lord Chancellor may by order specify the form that inspection programmes or inspection frameworks are to take.

(5)Nothing in any inspection programme or inspection framework is to be read as preventing the inspectors of court administration from making visits without notice.