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The 27 questions to answer before you apply to register

If you are registering a new adult social care service in England, you should be able to answer yes, with evidence, to each of these before you submit. They are the questions our registration readiness audit asks, grouped the way an inspector thinks about them.

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No sign-up, no call, nothing to unsubscribe from. 27 items. Written for England, reviewed 5 September 2026.

How to use it

Tick the first box only where you could show the evidence today. Tick the second where you could not. The second column is your to-do list, and its order is roughly the order to work in.

Legal entity and provider

  1. 1 Is the provider's legal entity decided and evidenced (registered company, partnership or individual), with the exact name that will appear on the CQC registration?
  2. 2 For a company or charity, is a nominated individual identified, in a senior role, with their responsibilities written down and their own DBS check under way?
  3. 3 Can the provider show it can fund the service through its first months of operation, including the period before fees are received?
  4. 4 Are the required insurances arranged or quoted: public liability, employer's liability (if anyone is employed) and, where relevant, professional indemnity and buildings/contents?

Registered manager

  1. 5 Is a registered manager identified who has the qualifications, experience and time to manage the service, with a plan for a relevant management qualification if not already held?
  2. 6 Has the registered manager's enhanced DBS check with adult barred-list check been applied for through CQC's countersigned route, and are the result and any risk assessment on file?
  3. 7 Is the registered manager's fitness evidence complete: two references including the most recent employer, full employment history with gaps explained, identity documents and a health declaration?
  4. 8 Can the registered manager explain, in their own words, how the service will meet each fundamental standard (Regulations 9 to 20A) at the CQC registration interview?

Statement of Purpose and service design

  1. 9 Is the Statement of Purpose complete in every part CQC requires: provider details, aims and objectives, locations, regulated activities, service types, service-user bands and registered manager details, dated and version-controlled?
  2. 10 Are the regulated activities applied for exactly the ones the service will carry on, using CQC's wording, with none missing and none included that will not be provided?
  3. 11 Do the service types and service-user bands (age ranges, dementia, learning disabilities or autism, mental health, physical or sensory needs) match the intended service and the planned staffing and training?
  4. 12 Are capacity, opening hours and, for home care, the office base and the geographical area covered clearly defined and realistic for the staffing planned?

Policies and procedures

  1. 13 Are the core policies written, dated and approved: safeguarding adults, whistleblowing, complaints, medication, infection prevention and control, consent and mental capacity, safer recruitment, equality and diversity, health and safety, data protection, business continuity and duty of candour?
  2. 14 Does each policy cite the current legislation and guidance it relies on and name the role responsible for it, rather than being a generic template left unchanged?
  3. 15 Is there a policy review schedule and version control, so every policy has a next-review date and superseded versions are withdrawn?

Premises, equipment and safety

  1. 16 Where the service uses premises, are they safe and suitable: current fire risk assessment, gas and electrical certificates, water hygiene (Legionella) assessment, and accessibility for the people who will use them? (Not applicable for home care without premises used by people supported: give the reason.)
  2. 17 Are infection prevention and control arrangements ready: PPE supply, cleaning schedules, waste disposal contract and hand-hygiene facilities?
  3. 18 Where medicines will be administered or supported, are storage, recording (MAR), ordering, disposal and competency arrangements defined?
  4. 19 Are emergency and business-continuity arrangements in place: on-call cover, contingency staffing, loss of premises or systems, and severe weather?

Staffing and recruitment

  1. 20 Is a safer-recruitment process defined and ready to evidence for every worker: application form, interview record, two references, right to work, enhanced DBS with barred-list check, health declaration and a full employment history with gaps explained?
  2. 21 Is there an induction programme aligned to the Care Certificate standards and a mandatory-training matrix showing what every role must complete before working unsupervised?
  3. 22 Do the staffing model and draft rotas show safe staffing for the planned capacity and dependency, including nights, weekends and leave cover?
  4. 23 Is a supervision and appraisal framework defined, with frequency, who supervises whom and how competence is checked?

Governance and records

  1. 24 Is the care-planning and record-keeping system chosen and set up, with templates for consent, needs and risk assessment, care plans and reviews that reflect person-centred care?
  2. 25 Is a quality-assurance system ready from day one: an audit calendar, incident, accident, safeguarding and complaint logs, and a procedure for the statutory notifications CQC requires?
  3. 26 Has the CQC Provider Portal account been created and have the provider, registered manager and DBS application forms been read through so every answer can be evidenced?
  4. 27 Are the terms and conditions, fee schedule and contract for people who will use the service drafted, clear and fair, including notice periods and what fees cover?

More free checklists: Manager's monthly plan Safeguarding assurance