Healthcare & Social Care

Social care registration and regulators

Guide to registering as a social care provider across all four UK nations. Covers CQC registration in England, Care Inspectorate in Scotland, CIW in Wales, and RQIA in Northern Ireland — including fees, registered manager requirements, and inspection frameworks.

UK-wide
Guide summary

You must register with your UK nation's social care regulator before providing care services. Each regulator has different fees and rules. You will need a qualified manager and will be inspected regularly.

  • Register with CQC in England, Care Inspectorate in Scotland, CIW in Wales or RQIA in Northern Ireland
  • Check if your service needs registration (care homes, nursing homes, domiciliary care)
  • CQC registration takes 10-12 weeks and costs £519 upfront
  • Annual fees range from £2,000 to £50,000+ depending on service size
  • Each location must have a registered manager with Level 5 Diploma
  • CQC inspects within 6-12 months and rates from 'Inadequate' to 'Outstanding'
  • Care Inspectorate in Scotland charges £1,500 to £5,000 application fee
  • Operating without registration is a criminal offence
  • Personal care includes help with washing, dressing and medication
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UK-wide

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Social care is one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the UK. If you plan to provide personal care, run a care home, or offer domiciliary care services, you must register with your nation's health and social care regulator before you start operating.

Registration is mandatory - operating without it is a criminal offence. The regulator you need to register with depends on where your business operates, as social care regulation is fully devolved across the UK.

What counts as social care

Social care services requiring registration include:

  • Care homes - residential accommodation providing personal care
  • Nursing homes - residential care with registered nurses
  • Domiciliary care - personal care provided in people's homes
  • Home care agencies - agencies supplying care workers to provide personal care
  • Supported living services - housing with personal care (only the personal care element is the regulated activity - the housing itself does not need registering)
  • Residential rehabilitation - accommodation for substance misuse treatment

"Personal care" includes help with washing, dressing, eating, and taking medication. If you're only providing companionship, cleaning, or cooking without personal care, you may not need to register - but check with your regulator first.

Which regulator applies to you

Social care regulation is devolved, meaning each UK nation has its own regulator with different registration processes, fees, and inspection frameworks. You must register with the regulator for the nation where you provide services:

  • England: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
  • Scotland: Care Inspectorate
  • Wales: Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
  • Northern Ireland: Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)

If you operate in multiple nations, you need to register separately with each regulator. The requirements below cover all four nations, but start with the one that applies to your business location.

Registering in England (CQC)

The Care Quality Commission regulates adult social care providers in England. Children's services register with Ofsted instead: children's homes under the Care Standards Act 2000 and the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, and supported accommodation for looked-after 16 and 17-year-olds under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 (since 28 October 2023).

CQC registration can take several months - there is no fixed period - and longer if your application is incomplete or the CQC has concerns about your preparedness.

What activities require CQC registration

You must register if you provide any of these "regulated activities":

CQC registration fees

CQC charges no application fee. Once registered, you pay an annual fee, invoiced on your registration anniversary and calculated based on the size and type of your service, not a flat rate:

Important: Care home annual fees are banded by the number of places, rising to a maximum of £15,710 per location for homes with more than 90 places. Factor this into your business plan - it's a substantial ongoing operating cost.

The registered manager requirement

CQC requires every registered location to have a "registered manager" - a named individual responsible for day-to-day management. This person must register separately with CQC and demonstrate the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to manage the service:

You can be both the registered provider (owner) and the registered manager, but you'll need to demonstrate the skills and experience to manage the service. Many small providers hire an experienced manager to fulfil this role while they handle the business side.

There is no statutory qualification for registered managers, but Skills for Care expects managers to hold or be working towards the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care, which typically takes 18-24 months to complete. CQC will assess your proposed manager's qualifications, competence, skills and experience. Plan ahead.

How CQC inspects and rates your service

Once registered, CQC will assess and inspect your service - there are no fixed inspection intervals. CQC is replacing the single assessment framework with sector-specific frameworks during 2026, but the four ratings and five key questions are retained. All inspection reports are published on the CQC website and you must display your rating at your premises and online.

CQC may inspect unannounced (especially for care homes) or give you notice (more common for domiciliary care).

A rating of "Inadequate" can lead to enforcement action including registration cancellation. "Requires Improvement" means you must submit an action plan showing how you will improve.

Scotland: Care Inspectorate registration

If you're operating in Scotland, you must register with the Care Inspectorate. They regulate care homes, care at home services, housing support, adult day care, and nurse agencies.

The Care Inspectorate uses a different inspection framework from CQC, with grades from 1 (Unsatisfactory) to 6 (Excellent) across five quality themes:

Key difference: Scotland has integrated health and social care, so the Care Inspectorate works closely with Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Your service may be subject to joint inspections.

Wales: Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) registration

Welsh social care providers must register with Care Inspectorate Wales under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016. This Act introduced significant reforms including mandatory workforce registration.

Critical Wales-specific requirement: Unlike England, Wales requires all care workers to register individually with Social Care Wales. This is mandatory, not voluntary - new workers have six months from starting work to register.

As an employer in Wales, you must:

  • Only employ care workers who are registered with Social Care Wales (or within their six-month window to register)
  • Budget for workers' annual registration fees (£30 a year for care workers; £80 for social workers and managers)
  • Ensure workers maintain registration and meet continuing professional development requirements
  • Report fitness to practise concerns to Social Care Wales

Some employers pay registration fees as a staff benefit; others require workers to pay themselves. Factor this into your recruitment and retention strategy.

Northern Ireland: RQIA registration

Social care providers in Northern Ireland must register with the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA). Like Scotland, Northern Ireland has integrated health and social care governance.

RQIA requires a detailed business plan as part of your application. This must demonstrate:

  • Financial viability for at least 12 months
  • Appropriate policies and procedures
  • Staffing structure meeting minimum standards
  • Premises compliance with building regulations and fire safety

All key personnel must undergo Access NI checks (Northern Ireland's equivalent of DBS checks).