Changes to the Requirements for Homecare Registrations.

On the 1st July 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) changed the criteria for registration of any new health or social care provision. This means that if you are part way through the process of putting your registration together, you will need to log into the CQC website and review the criteria specific to your particular service type as anything not conforming to the current requirements will not be accepted.

In this blog we will concentrate purely on the criteria for registration as a homecare, domiciliary care, provider, because it is this group of providers with which Bettal have the most experience.

What has gone?

Under the new CQC registration requirements, domiciliary care providers no longer need to provide:
• An Information Commissioners Office registration document – although you should register when you start to handle peoples data
• A financial viability statement – although you should be financially viable!
https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-regulation/providers/registration/supporting-documents-provider

These two requirements did used to cost providers money, so it is welcome that they are not required at the outset of the process.

What is staying?

All domiciliary care registrations must continue to include the following policies (all of which are available for Bettal subscribers):

• Consent policy and procedures
• Equality, diversity and human rights policy and procedures
• Governance policy and procedures
• Infection control policy and procedures
• Medicines management policy and procedures
• Recruitment policy and procedures
• Safeguarding policy and procedures

It is important to note that the policies are subject to strict criteria all of which must be met in order for the registration to proceed.

As well as the above policies, the CQC may also ask for the following policies during the domiciliary care registration process:

• Duty of candour policy
• Person centred care planning policy (PCCPP)
• Quality assurance policy
• Risk management policy

As well as the above policies the CQC also still requires the following documents during the domiciliary care registration process:

• Statement of purpose – use the template (which is undated) from the CQC website.
• The Application for Registration as a New Provider of regulated Activities form is the same, January 2025 version – although this is subject to change, so it is always worth checking the registration webpages.
• The Application for Registration as a Manager of regulated Activity/Activities form is also the same being the May 2025 version – as above check the CQC registration pages before completing to ensure you are using the latest version.
• The application must also be supported by a business plan. The notable difference between the current and previous requirements is that this plan only needs to contain a one-year financial forecast, whereas previously it was two years. They are also asking for a SWOT analysis and details of the research the applicant has done to understand the local care needs.

What is new?

Although they were always a requirement previously, the “Additional form for Providers of Personal Care” had not been in use for about a year. Now it is a requirement for all domiciliary care agency registration. Be certain that you have spoken to or had an email conversation with a local authority commissioner if you are planning to have any local authority-funded service users, because this form asks for proof that there is a local need for the service you are planning to deliver.

A new requirement for domiciliary care provider registration is that you must also demonstrate that you have permission to run the business from the address you provide as the “location”, what they are calling “Evidence of Legal Occupancy”. This means, according to the CQC website:

• a copy of your title deeds (if you own the premises)
• a tenancy agreement
• a license agreement

As well as written permission from your landlord or mortgage provider. Notably you will have to also identify these permissions with in the “Additional form for Providers of Personal Care”.

Previously the CQC asked for a training policy with training matrix as part of homecare registration, now they are asking for a training plan. The training plan is somewhat more comprehensive covering the time from induction throughout the person’s time with the agency. It also asks for the name of the training provider, any specialist training provided and how you might support overseas workers.

The domiciliary care provider must also supply a complaints policy at the point of registration. While this has often been asked for by inspectors later in the process, this is a new element of the initial registration submission. Notably it also now requires that the registrant considers “if your nominated individual and registered manager are the same person, how complaints about them will be handled fairly and by whom”.

Something which has also just been introduced and which we are seeing previous applicants needing to provide now is a Service User Guide. As with all of the documents and policies asked for, there are very strict criteria as to what these guides must contain on the CQC registration pages. Among the criteria are the need to be clear about pricing and to provide information about safeguarding as well as making complaints.

Summary

In this blog we have taken a whistlestop tour of the changes the CQC have introduced to the domiciliary care registration process. In it we have identified how many of the policy requirements have remained broadly the same, there have been some changes to other evidence the CQC require. We have also seen that they have dropped the requirement for seeing ICO registration and a financial viability statement – which is perhaps welcome as these often have a cost attached to them.

Notably the homecare registration process now requires the applicant to provide proof that they have permission to run their domiciliary care agency from the address they provide as the location and all applicants must submit a service user guide.

Bettal has a well tried and tested suite of policies and procedures which are designed to support potential providers with the registration process.

If you would like to know more, browse our website or get in touch:

Email: info@bettal.co.uk
Telephone: 01697741411

Peter Ellis MA MSc BSc(Hons) RN
Consultant
Bettal Quality Consultancy