Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve transparency around (i) care quality and (ii) safeguarding in domiciliary care services.

To ensure adult social care providers, including domiciliary care services, meet fundamental standards of quality and safety, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors, inspects, and regulates these services. All inspection reports on individual providers are made publicly available.

Dr Penny Dash undertook a review of the CQC’s operational effectiveness in 2024, during which she uncovered significant concerns about the CQC’s internal operation. In response, the CQC is taking immediate action to help ensure that it is carrying out its regulatory work with sufficient depth and frequency. This will enable the CQC to address delays in the reporting on the quality and safety of care in all care services, including domiciliary care services, increasing transparency for both providers and the public who use these services. I met with Sir Julian Hartley on 14 March 2025, where we discussed the CQC’s recent challenges, and how we will continue working closely together on key priorities.

Additionally, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have statutory duties relating to safeguarding adults. Local Safeguarding Adults Boards help to provide transparency through a requirement that they carry out a Safeguarding Adult Review when an adult with care and support needs has died or has experienced serious abuse or neglect. The Department commissioned a national analysis of all such reviews that took place between 2019 and 2023. This work is published and serves to identify priorities for improvement, and is available at the following link:

https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/second-national-analysis-safeguarding-adult-reviews-april-2019-march-2023-executive#conclusions-and-improvement-priorities