Event healthcare providers must now register with CQC
Registration applications opened on 7 September 2026 and must reach CQC in time for assessment by 6 December 2027, under an SI built on the Manchester Arena Inquiry.
Quality statements are going: what replaces CQC scoring
Quality statements go, key lines of enquiry return and numerical scoring below key question level disappears, across four sector-specific frameworks.
Read the draft CQC framework before it becomes final
Draft version 9 of the adult social care framework is public, and it is the clearest signal yet of what CQC will ask you to evidence.
CQC wants 9,000 assessments done by the end of this month
CQC is pushing for 9,000 assessments by the end of September 2026 while rewriting its frameworks, so expect contact before the new rules land.
Fair pay negotiations start April 2027: plan your costs
Negotiations start April 2027 and the first agreement takes effect April 2028, with £500 million allocated and around 1.5 million workers in scope.
Your admin and catering staff now sit in the pathway
Ten new role categories take the Care Workforce Pathway to 18, covering nominated individuals, quality leads, admin, catering, domestic and maintenance staff.
The vacancy rate fell to 6.2%. Here is the fragile bit.
The vacancy rate is 6.2%, the lowest since 2015/16, but British nationals in the workforce fell by 40,000 while non-EU nationals rose by 60,000.
New Level 5 and Level 3 claims open under the LDSS
New Level 5 and Level 3 diploma options are in scope and Oliver's Training funding continues into 2026/27, but reimbursement cannot be guaranteed.
Two October deadlines every care employer must diary
Tribunal claim limits double to six months on 1 October 2026 and new sexual harassment duties bite on 30 October, with unfair dismissal changes in January 2027.
No one now has to pass council fee uplifts on to you
The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund is being folded into councils' Fair Funding Allocation, taking the fee-reporting requirement with it.
Casey reports a year early: what providers should expect
Baroness Casey now reports in summer 2027 rather than 2028, with NHS and social care workforce merger on pay, training and job security on the table.
ICO will now enforce against slow subject access requests
The ICO says it will prioritise enforcement against persistent subject access delays, after a pilot found people waiting up to 16 years for records.
DSPT version 9 is out: check your training assertion
Version 9 of the Data Security and Protection Toolkit is out, with mandatory audit areas published four days earlier and a changed staff training test.
Cheshire West is overruled: review every DoLS you hold
The Supreme Court has overruled its own 2014 decision and scrapped the acid test, and DHSC says cases should be reviewed as soon as is practicable.
The week in care regulation, once a week
What changed, what it means operationally, and what you have to do about it — across CQC, the Care Inspectorate, CIW and RQIA. Written by our press desk, sourced from the statute book and the regulators themselves.
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