Registration
By law, the social care services listed below have to be
registered and inspected. We (the Commission for Social Care
Inspection) are the government organisation that does this.
Who do we register?
We register and inspect the following types of service:
- care homes that provide personal care or nursing care (or
both)
- adult placement schemes
- domiciliary care agencies (often known as home care
agencies)
- nurses’ agencies.
What about children's services?
Since April 2007, social care services for children have been
monitored by Ofsted.
What is registration?
Registration means that, before any of the above services can
start operating, we must be satisfied that:
- the people running it are suitable; and
- the service will be run in line with the regulations and
standards set by the Government.
It is a criminal offence to run one of the above social care
services unless we have received and granted (approved) an
application for registration.
How does it work?
When someone applies for registration they have to give us
information about themselves and the kind of service they are
planning. They also have to pay us a registration fee.
About the person registering
The information we ask for about the person who wants to run the
service includes:
- proof of identity
- a medical report
- a financial reference
- a copy of their Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) disclosure.
The CRB disclosure tell us if the person is allowed to work with
vulnerable adults or children.
Together with the rest of the information this helps us make
sure the person is suitable to run a care service.
About the care service
The information we ask for about the care service the person is
planning includes details about:
- accommodation
- staff
- facilities
- the specific services they will provide.
What happens next?
We check all the information and ask for references.
We invite the person applying for registration to an interview.
This helps us assess whether the person is fit to run a care
service.
The law says that to run a care service you have to be of
'integrity and good character'.
This means you have to be:
- honest, reliable and trustworthy
- physically and mentally fit to run the service
- properly qualified and with the relevant skills and
experience.
We will then reach one of three decisions.
These are to:
- grant the application
- grant it with conditions
- refuse it.
Find out more