Guide
Which services must register with Care Inspectorate Wales?
Updated
Wales does not copy the English model. Registration turns on whether what you provide is one of the regulated services defined in Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act.
The eight services under the 2016 Act
- Care home services, including care homes for children and for adults
- Secure accommodation services
- Residential family centre services
- Domiciliary support services, a service that can provide care in a person's own home as well as general support
- Adoption services
- Fostering services
- Adult placement services
- Advocacy services
These are the services Care Inspectorate Wales lists as needing to register under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, which came into force in April 2018 (careinspectorate.wales). The legal definitions, including the places and arrangements that are carved out of each one, are in Schedule 1 to the Act. Borderline cases are decided by the schedule and the 2017 regulations made under it, not by what your contract calls the service.
Childcare and play register separately
Childminders, full day care, sessional day care, creches, out of school care and open access play provision also register with CIW, but under the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 rather than the 2016 Act, through a different route. If that is your service, start with CIW's childcare and play registration guidance rather than this page.
What CIW inspects without registering
CIW states that it also inspects boarding schools, residential special schools and further education colleges which accommodate students under 18, but does not register them. Being inspected and being registered are different regulatory relationships, and only the second one gates whether you can trade.
Providing without registration is an offence
Section 5 of the 2016 Act states that it is an offence for a person to provide a regulated service without being registered in respect of that service. CIW puts the practical version bluntly: applicants must not start to provide a service before registration is granted by CIW issuing them with a Notice of Decision.
Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
| Nation | Regulator | Registration turns on |
|---|---|---|
| Wales | Care Inspectorate Wales | Providing a regulated service defined in Schedule 1 to the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 |
| England | Care Quality Commission | Carrying on a regulated activity under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 |
| Scotland | Care Inspectorate | Being one of the care services listed in section 47 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 |
| Northern Ireland | RQIA | Its own separate registration regime |
A provider working across the Wales and England border needs registration on both sides, with different applications, different evidence and different fee positions. See how long the Welsh application takes.