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Regulations, standards and inspection

  • Last modified date:
    3 March 2008

The regulation and inspection of social care services is managed through a framework that aims to ensure all providers meet a set of defined National Minimum Standards.

The Care Standards Act 2000

The Care Standards Act 2000 established the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC), an independent, non-governmental public body, to regulate all care homes, domiciliary care agencies and nurses’ agencies in England.

The Act also gave Secretary of State the power to make regulations and National Minimum Standards governing how care homes and domiciliary care and nurses agencies should operate.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI)

The Health and Social Care Act 2003 amalgamated the functions of the (NCSC) with those of the Social Services Inspectorate (the existing regulator of social care at that time), and established the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) as the sole regulator of all social care services from April 2004.

Responsibility for regulating children’s services was transferred to Ofsted in April 2007. CSCI receives grant-in-aid from the Department of Health and raises part of its running costs by charging regulatory fees which are set by the Government.

It has been agreed that these fees will not be increased for 2008/09.  The fee structure is due to be revised when the new regulatory system comes into being - subject to legislation.

CSCI also takes responsibility for evaluating the performance of each council with social services responsibilities.

Service-specific regulations

The Care Standards Act 2000 sets out a broad range of regulation making powers covering, amongst other matters, the management , staff premises and conduct of social care and independent healthcare establishments and agencies.

Each type of social care provider is required to meet their own set of service specific regulations. If a care provider fails to meet any of the regulations applicable for the service they provide, CSCI can take enforcement action against the provider, with the most serious breaches potentially leading to cancellation of a provider’s registration.

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