We look at how local authorities meet their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014). Our local authority assessment guidance is the definitive guidance for local authorities. We have reviewed and updated some aspects using:
- learning from our baselining assessment programme
- feedback and input from engaging with government, partners, local authorities, people who use services and carers, and organisations that represent them.
Our assessment approach
The themes from the findings of our baseline assessments are set out in our State of Care annual report to Parliament.
We will publish a report to highlight our findings from the baselining period, using our independent voice to draw attention to key themes and the successes and challenges across adult social care.
Our assessments of local authorities continue to focus on how they meet their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014) and focus on 4 themes:
- How local authorities work with people
- How local authorities provide support
- How local authorities ensure safety within the system
- Leadership
Our assessment framework for local authorities is aligned to the current overarching assessment framework for providers but applied differently. We have kept alignment across our provider assessment frameworks where appropriate.
Emphasising people’s experiences of care, including unpaid carers
Our framework for assessing local authorities introduces a more flexible approach with a greater focus on listening to people’s voices, including unpaid carers, to drive improvement. It focuses on their experiences of care and support, as well as their outcomes.
We define people’s experiences, including those of unpaid carers, as “a person’s needs, expectations, lived experience and satisfaction with their care, support and treatment including equity of experience, and access to and transfers between services”.
We encourage people who use care and support services, unpaid carers, and organisations who represent them or act on their behalf, to share their experiences at any time.
We are also committed to ensuring that we consider the experiences of people, including unpaid carers, who are most likely to have poor access, experiences or outcomes from care.
If we receive feedback at any time that people, including unpaid carers, have poor experiences of care, this is always identified as a concern, even if other evidence sources have not indicated any issues. We will need to review this further and gather more evidence to inform what action we need to take.
Local government reorganisation
CQC understands the challenges faced by local authorities that are affected by local government reorganisation, particularly in relation to the delivery and oversight of care and support while navigating these significant changes.
Our flexible and risk-based approach to local authority assessments will support us to respond proportionately to the circumstances in each local area. This approach also allows us to assure government, local authorities, people and carers on the management of risks to adult social care provision that can arise as a result of local government reorganisation.
As local authorities transition to new arrangements, our assessment approach will consider the different levels of risk to delivering their statutory duties set out in the Care Act (2014).
This will take account of both the risks facing existing local authorities before the new local authorities are formed, and the risks associated with newly-formed local authorities in delivering adult social care functions. We will review our approach as the impact of local government reorganisation becomes clearer for each local authority.
Our news story for how CQC regulates during local government reorganisation gives more information on the approach and principles we will use during this period.
Secretary of State’s objective and priorities
The Secretary of State’s objective for CQC is to assess how well local authorities are delivering their regulated care functions under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014) to prevent escalation of care needs and to support people to access care and support.
The Secretary of State’s current priorities for CQC assessment of local authorities, set in 2025, are:
- Commissioning for high quality care outcomes
- Preventing people’s care needs from escalating
- Delivery of joined-up support within communities
Both the Secretary of State’s priorities and our approach for assessing local authorities are directly linked to the regulated care functions under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014).
The Secretary of State must set the priorities and may occasionally revise them. The current priorities are embedded within our assessment framework and approach for local authorities.
The following describes the connections between the Secretary of State’s current priorities and our approach to assessment.
Commissioning for high-quality care outcomes
Commissioning care services is central to the duties of local authorities under the Care Act (2014). We assess how local authorities plan, purchase, and monitor services to meet regulated care functions under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014). Good commissioning is linked to improved outcomes and experiences for people, including unpaid carers.
An important part of our assessment framework and approach is to assess whether local services are joined up and flexible, and that they meet people’s diverse needs, including the needs of unpaid carers. Commissioning sustainable and high-quality care and support can ensure this.
Preventing people’s care needs from escalating
Prevention must be embedded in how local authorities assess people’s needs, promote reablement, and use assistive technology to prevent, reduce and/or delay the need for care and support. It is a fundamental aspect of the assessment framework and approach. Effective prevention strategies, such as using falls sensors, telecare, and occupational therapy, help improve people’s outcomes from their care and support.
Unpaid carers play a key role in preventing escalation of the needs of the people they care for and support. A stronger approach to assessing a local authority’s ability to support unpaid carers will help to improve outcomes for them. It will prevent their own care needs from escalating, in accordance with the statutory duties set out in the Care Act (2014).
Delivery of joined-up support within communities
Strong partnerships across health care, social care, and voluntary and community groups enable better prevention and continuity of care. Through our assessment framework, we explicitly assess how local authorities work collaboratively with partners in health, voluntary, and community groups, and encourages shared learning and co-production of services.
More emphasis on improving the outcomes and experiences of unpaid carers will underpin the delivery of joined-up support within communities, alongside local authorities sharing information with local communities.