CQC consults on a new adult social care assessment framework – what care providers need to know

CQC has announced its intention to return to sector specific assessment frameworks later this year, acknowledging the flaws in the Single Assessment Framework (SAF) it rolled out in 2024. It follows the regulator’s public consultation, Better regulation, better care last year and calls for a return to sector-led inspection models and stronger professional accountability.

Key changes at a glance

• Four new sector specific frameworks replace the SAF: Adult social care (ASC), mental health care, primary care & community services and last but not least hospitals (secondary and specialist care).
• Five key questions on quality and safety remain: Safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. 
  • More streamlined structure should enable providers to better prepare for inspections.
• Key lines of enquiry to replace current quality statements 
  • Fewer KLOEs but essence of quality statements remains.
  • The draft ASC framework includes 24 KLOEs, with CQC indicating further refinement is planned.
  • More streamlined structure should enable providers to better prepare for inspections.
  • CQC is exploring what environmental sustainability should look like in ASC.
• Rating characteristics to set out what outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate care looks like within each of the individual sectors.
• Removal of numerical scoring from CQC’s assessment methodology
• Reduction of the number of ‘I’ statements

ASC Framework

The CQC’s draft ASC assessment framework, sets out how it proposes to assess, rate and regulate adult social care providers in future. The framework is now out for consultation, with responses invited by 12 June.

For care home providers, this draft framework promises meaningful provider oversight, helping to support consistency, transparency and continuous improvement.

Once finalised, the framework will determine the way inspections are conducted, the types of evidence inspectors seek, and the criteria used to assess quality and safety. Overall, this marks a shift towards a more transparent, equitable and evidence-led approach to regulation, with clearer indicators for identifying poor practice.

What is changing?

The draft framework builds on the familiar five key questions – safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led – but introduces a more detailed and structured approach to assessment. For each key question, CQC sets out topic areas and “key lines of enquiry”, supported by detailed descriptors for what outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate look like in practice.

A strong theme running through the draft is a shift away from process-heavy compliance towards real-world impact on people’s lives. The framework repeatedly emphasises outcomes, lived experience, equity and human rights, alongside compliance with regulations.

CQC has also responded to earlier sector feedback by clarifying boundaries between rating levels and by recognising where factors sit outside a provider’s direct control – particularly in relation to commissioning, system pressures and partnership working.

Areas providers should pay close attention to

For care homes and operators, several aspects of the draft framework stand out:

Safety culture and safeguarding

There is a strong focus on open cultures, learning from incidents, duty of candour and preventing closed cultures. Providers will need to demonstrate not just policies but how learning is embedded and shared.

Equity, inclusion and human rights

Considerable weight is placed on understanding and addressing inequalities – for both people using services and the workforce. Inspectors will expect to see how providers identify barriers, make reasonable adjustments and act on feedback from people whose voices are seldom heard.

Workforce capability and wellbeing

Safe staffing is framed more broadly than numbers alone. Recruitment, training, supervision, fatigue management and staff wellbeing are all linked directly to quality and safety outcomes.

Person-centred and rights-based care

Across caring, effective and responsive domains, the framework stresses choice, autonomy, consent and least restrictive practice, including proper application of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

Governance, leadership and improvement

“Well-led” places increased emphasis on culture, learning, innovation and engagement with staff and people who use services, rather than purely structural governance arrangements.

Shorter inspection reports

Chris Badger, the Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care made it clear in his presentation at the Care England annual conference last month that he would like to see shorter inspection reports.

Currently, CQC reports average 20 pages in England, compared to 14 pages in Wales and 12 in Scotland.

What should providers do now?

Although the framework is still in draft, providers should not wait until it is finalised to engage with it. This is an opportunity to:

• Review the draft through the lens of your own services and identify areas that feel unclear, unrealistic or disproportionate.
• Consider whether the descriptors accurately reflect what good looks like in different care settings.
• Highlight where external pressures (for example, commissioning decisions or workforce shortages) affect delivery but sit outside your control.
• Start mapping existing evidence, policies and practice against the proposed expectations to understand where changes may be needed.

Have your say

The consultation closes on 12 June, and CQC is seeking input from providers and the wider sector to help refine the framework further. Responses now can influence the final shape of the framework – and how regulation feels on the ground. Pilots are planned for summer 2026.

In particular, the CQC is seeking information about whether the proposed frameworks will:

• Guide CQC in carrying out assessments and making clearer, more transparent and consistent judgements about quality
• Help providers to understand what CQC will be looking for and improve the quality of care they deliver
• Help CQC and providers to identify and address the issue of inequalities in care
• Reflect the range of regulated services and sectors

You can read the draft assessment frameworks and consultation here and respond to it here.

Comment

For providers, CQC’s new regulatory approach does not alter the core requirements that must be demonstrated. Delivering person-centred care, maintaining accurate and up-to-date care plans, employing competent teams, ensuring effective oversight, and fostering continuous learning will all remain essential for achieving good or outstanding outcomes.

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