Resources
Official CQC, NICE and legislation links
The sources behind every answer your assistant gives, in one place: CQC guidance and the provider portal, NICE guidelines and quality standards, and the Acts and Regulations that set the fundamental standards.
Every link opens in a new tab. Links were checked in September 2026; official sites do move pages, so use the search box on the site if something has moved.
Latest newsCQC updates, guidance changes and enforcement action →Pulled live from cqc.org.uk, so you can see what the regulator has published and announced recently.Care Quality Commission
CQC is the regulator for adult social care in England. Its own pages are the first place to check for registration, guidance, fees and what inspectors assess.
- CQC homeThe regulator's main site: news, guidance, reports and contact routes.
- Guidance for providersCQC's guidance hub for registered providers and applicants.
- What registration isWhat registering means, and what CQC expects of a registered provider.
- Register a new providerThe application route for a new service, and what you have to submit.
- Making changes to your registrationAdding locations or regulated activities, and changing managers or nominated individuals.
- DBS checks for CQC registrationCQC's countersignature route for the checks it asks applicants to obtain.
- Statement of purposeWhat the statement must contain and how it is used during assessment.
- Quality statementsWhat assessors look for under Safe, Caring, Responsive, Effective and Well-led.
- AssessmentHow services are assessed, rated and re-inspected.
- Regulations and enforcementThe Regulation 5–28 requirements and how CQC uses its powers where standards are not met.
- NotificationsWhich events must be reported to CQC, when, and how.
- FeesThe current annual fee bands by service type and size.
- CQC Provider PortalWhere providers update registration details and submit notifications.
- About the Provider PortalSign-in, permissions and support information for the portal.
- Find a service and read reportsPublished inspection reports and ratings for any registered service in England.
- CQC publicationsSector reports, insight publications and data.
- Report a concern to CQCThe route members of the public use to raise concerns about a service.
- CQC newsAnnouncements on changes to guidance, fees and inspection approach.
NICE guidelines and quality standards
NICE publishes evidence-based guidance on conditions, medicines and care processes. It is written largely for the NHS, but social care providers use it to underpin policies and inspectors do cite it — check the 'who is for' section of each guideline before applying it.
- NICE homeSearch NICE guidance, quality standards and medicines guidance.
- All NICE guidanceEvery NICE guideline, including conditions and medicines commonly seen in social care.
- Quality standards and indicatorsSpecific statements of what good practice looks like, useful for audits and board reporting.
- NICE pathwaysGuidance brought together by condition or care setting, rather than one document at a time.
- NICE medicines guidanceTechnology appraisals and medicines guidance relevant to nursing and complex care.
UK legislation
legislation.gov.uk is the official source for the text of UK law, including the regulations that set the fundamental standards CQC enforces. Always read the version on legislation.gov.uk rather than a summary or an older copy.
- legislation.gov.uk homeSearch legislation and see the currently in-force text.
- Regulated Activities Regulations 2014The fundamental standards: Regulation 8 (safe care and treatment) through Regulation 20 (duty of candour).
- Regulation 12 — safe care and treatmentThe requirement most often cited in findings on risk, medicines and safeguarding.
- Regulation 18 — staffingSufficient, qualified and fit staff, with the records that evidence it.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008The Act that established CQC and made carrying on a regulated activity without registration an offence.
- Care Act 2014Adult safeguarding duties (section 42), care and support planning and eligibility.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005The capacity test, best interests decision-making and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006The barred-list regime behind DBS checks for regulated activity.
- Equality Act 2010Protected characteristics, reasonable adjustments and discrimination arising from disability.
- Human Rights Act 1998Article 8 (private and family life) and Article 3, relevant to restrictive practice and care planning.
- Data Protection Act 2018The UK implementation of data protection law, including special category data.
Other official guidance
Bodies whose guidance is regularly referenced by providers and by assessors when they check a policy or a training record.
- SCIE — Social Care Institute for ExcellenceFree, practical guides on care practice, governance and the Mental Capacity Act.
- SCIE — adult safeguardingSection 42 duties, safeguarding adults board expectations and good practice.
- SCIE — DoLS and the Mental Capacity ActDeprivation of Liberty Safeguards explained, including when an authorisation is needed.
- Mental Capacity Act code of practiceThe statutory code practitioners and assessors expect staff to have followed.
- Skills for CareTraining standards, the Common Core Skills and the Learning and Development Toolkit.
- Information Commissioner's OfficeData protection, subject access requests and health data guidance.
- Health and Safety ExecutiveManual handling, lone working, infection control and RIDDOR reporting.
- Disclosure and Barring ServiceDBS check levels, regulated activity and the barred lists.
- Nursing and Midwifery CouncilThe Code, revalidation and the standards nurses in your service must meet.
Sector bodies and local government
Membership organisations and local authorities that run commissioning, contract monitoring and much of the training and networking available to providers.
- Care EnglandMembership body for care providers, with briefings and sector surveys.
- Home Care AssociationRepresentation and resources for domiciliary care providers.
- Local Government AssociationCouncil services, adult social care policy and directorate networks.
- NHS EnglandContinuing healthcare, integrated care boards and NHS commissioning information.
How to use these sources
- Start with the regulation, not a summary. CQC writes guidance, but the legal duty is the text of the regulation — and guidance does not change it.
- Check the date. Inspection approaches, fees and notification rules are revised, so confirm what you are reading is the current version before you rely on it.
- Keep a copy of what you relied on. If an assessor challenges a policy, being able to show which guidance you followed is itself good evidence of governance.
- Do not enter personal details. These are public websites — never paste resident or staff information into a search box or a contact form.
Ask the assistant instead of searching
Your CQC & Regulatory Assistant reads across these sources and answers for your own service type — the requirement, what CQC expects, the actions and the evidence. Free for 7 days.